Circular Reality
by BleakSituations
Summary: Embroiled in a war that has lasted over a century—a war that is growing ever ferocious, a war that is bound to destroy the world—Syuusuke Fuji is an envoy from vampire to human army for a temporary truce. Werewolves play mind games, vampires go on the hunt and humans linger in fear of any shadow that moves. RyoxFujixTezu, AU -being rewritten
1. Bloodlust

**Disclaimer:** I suppose I _do_ own this, since I created the story. So...no copying. Nya! -sticks out tongue- But I don't own Prince of Tennis. At all. And it sucks. Because PoT is totally awesome!

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**Circular Reality  
**Chapter 1 _Bloodlust_

The world has long ago fallen into war. A war that has lasted over a century and is now even more ferocious than the first few years of manslaughter. A war overflowing with danger and enmity. A war that is bound to destroy the world…

Fuji Syuusuke walked through the east end of the camp. "This camp is _way_ too big. Now where was the command tent?" he muttered to himself as he walked along, eyes forward (and open) and head held high. All around him, the sounds of men at war echoed across the valley, most likely reaching the ears of the many different beasts watching and waiting in the mountains. These beasts could and would include the vampires and the werewolves, but most likely werewolves, since vampires tended to take a more human approach and didn't like to sleep in the wilderness. It was winter and fires were being built against the cold, men shivering in their many layers of clothing and edging closer to said fires. Fuji walked calmly amidst this, either completely oblivious or straight-out ignoring the catcalls and stares that he received, many thinking he was a she and the rest... well yeah. Finally, he had had enough. He looked around at all of the men staring out at him and bared his teeth at them, his eyes filling with bloodlust. Said men looked away quickly, pretending to do something else, out of fright. If it wasn't around midnight, the time he usually fed, or if he had had some "food" on the way here, he would have felt sorry for these men. They were in a war that was way above their heads. He doubted that most would be around for much longer. This made him stop baring his teeth and move on some more, quickly and quietly. In fact, he barely made any noise as he walked through the snow. Being a vampire certainly had its perks.

When he finally reached the command tent, he sighed in relief. It wouldn't be much longer until he could leave. And find some food. Mostly that, since he was starving. He silently vowed that he would never again travel through the wilderness after this. Although he would probably break this vow later on, it gave him some reassurance. He wanted to be home with his younger brother and older sister and he wanted to see his parents' graves once more. He wanted to see the landlady that always gave him a discount on their home. He wanted to sleep in his own bed in his own sheets and in his own room. He took a deep breath before realizing that he had stopped several paces from the tent from his own distraction. He growled softly and moved forward.

He was one pace from the tent flap when an arm was thrust forward, stopping him in his tracks, the arm only a few centimeters from his stomach. A man chuckled close to his ear. "The reflexes of your kind are amazing. You are amazing," was whispered in his ear. He turned his head quickly, facing said man. He wasn't very tall, certainly not taller than Fuji, and had black hair that shined a blue-ish/green color in the dim light. And golden eyes. And black clothes. Fuji stared in approval. He had always liked the color black and it seemed to suit the man perfectly. Said man had a straight-forward, handsome face and Fuji took a few seconds to get lost in his eyes. Then he tore his eyes from the man's and scowled, a silent question asked, before stepping forward. However, said man's arm did not move and all he succeeded in doing was running into it. Fuji looked at him again, the silent question even more pronounced. The man looked back at him blandly and he stood there patiently for a few seconds before finally bursting out with a calm, "What do you want?"

The man smiled, that was obviously what he had been waiting for, before speaking, "In this camp… there is a certain thing we need for permission to see the leader. This… certain thing happens to be a letter of consent, a decree if you will. I don't suppose you have it?" Fuji snorted. How proper the man sounded, not that that was a bad thing. He roughly put out his arm and took something from within his overly-long sleeves and showed it to the man. It was a letter sealed with a dark red/near black seal.

The seal had a dragon encircling a sword, the infamous seal of the human army. No one really knew why the _humans_ had a _dragon_ as their seal, but Fuji had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that many of the humans he had met had all thought that dragons were a myth, a legend, and had always marveled at their strength. Fuji had snorted at the whole concept. Dragons weren't _myths_ or _legends_, they were real. He had seen some, high up in the sky, during one of his daily… flies.

Fuji was a special type of vampire. He had wings. They were just as humans imagined angel's as, only black. He sometimes let them loose to feel the soft and feathery-ness of them. In short, he loved his wings. They gave him more freedom than anyone could ever imagine. They were a gift, although many in his race called them a curse. Of course, he also had to consider that he was one of the last winged vampires. It was rumored that long, long ago the other vampires had gotten jealous of the flying vampires, whose wings consisted of whatever color had been their favorite when they were children, and had killed them in cold blood. Only a few escaped. However, this was a _legend_, or perhaps it was like the humans with the dragons. Maybe it had really happened. No one knew.

Anyway, on one of Fuji's daily flies he had flown up higher than he ever had before. He had twirled around, alone, since his brother did not wish to go up that day, or any day, and went still higher. There, at an even higher altitude, he saw a floating mountain. This mountain held myriad caves and outside he saw flying creatures. They were of all different colors; he saw a few red, 2 or 3 green, 7 yellow, and a single black one. They were beautiful in all their glory. They looked to be playing, so he could only assume that they were children or immature adults. Whichever they were, he was content to lay back and watch them… literally. He had recently found a way to stay up in the air, lying down. His wings would have to flap in a different way, of course, but that was all part of the experience. He had laid there for a whole hour, or perhaps more, before he heard his brother calling for him through their mind-link all those miles below. He had then sighed in frustration and flown down to meet him.

But back to the present, he held out the seal to the man who nodded his head and moved his arm. Fuji passed him haughtily and went in. There were only a few things in this tent, so he could assume that it was not the sleeping quarters for the leader. He filed this in his thoughts for future reference. He would probably need to know this later on. There were a few plants around, a nice rug, an ornately-decorated desk, and a black leather chair that was facing the opposite direction. This was obviously something akin to an office. He shrugged and moved forward to the desk and the seats in front of it, stopping at a respectful distance. He knew who sat in the chair, but held no fear for the all-mighty leader of the human army, Tezuka Kunimitsu. He was also known as the "Black Dragon" of the human army, although Fuji didn't know why such a name would be given to a leader. It probably had something to do with the _myth_ about dragons and how they were _legendary_ for their strength, beauty, and gracefulness. And perhaps over-protectiveness. You can never really tell with the dark and silent types. Fuji sighed softly and coughed once, getting the attention of said leader. The chair swiveled slowly to face him. Needless to say, Fuji did not expect the leader to be so…

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And I leave you there. Nya! I don't know if I'll actually continue this one. I started writing it during some free-time during English class near the middle of the year. -I actually had to change my story completely to get it on here because it was originally a made up story where the main character was a girl named Tori and the 'guard' outside the tent had black hair, black eyes, and black clothes. Instead of golden eyes. And also, I was thinking up a name for the leader... so I guess this makes it much easier. _But_ I still had to change it... and I still think my original version was better. So... that's the Prince of Tennis version, I guess.- Then I typed it on the computer and put it on my 'Yahoo! Notepad' as a revised edition. Then I think I accidentally deleted it and now I just found the written copy and made some editions and revisions. So… yeah. It's not exactly the original. Tell me what you think and if I should continue it, please.


	2. Sunrise

**Circular Reality  
**Chapter 2: _Sunrise_

…_stoic_. What a let-down. Fuji had hoped that _the _Tezuka Kunimitsu would have a sense of humor, but judging from that face and posture… there was no chance in hell. None at all. Unless you're Inui, then you'd say that there was a "0.0000000000001 percent chance" that he had a sense of humor.

There was one thing wrong with that of course. Fuji Syuusuke was _not_ Inui Sadaharu. Now you may be wondering. Just who _is_ this Inui Sadaharu person. Inui was the Fuji family's tactician. Yes, you heard me, tactician. He was the one that always figured out things in percentages. He was one of the only reasons that the vampire army was currently doing so well in the war. Now you may be wondering just _how_ Inui came to work for the Fuji family. Inui's father was turned into a vampire many, many, many, _many_ years before he was born, 374 to be exact. When he was turned, he vowed that the Inui family would forever serve the Fuji family and that brings us to the present.

Fuji sighed and stood still, appraising the leader, as the same was being done to him. They stared at each other, neither willing to break the somewhat-uncomfortable silence that had settled over them. After some time had passed, the guard from earlier on had come in, worried that something had happened to their leader. He had heard no one speak after that single cough.

"I'm fine, Echizen, you may go back to your post," Tezuka ordered. The now-named guard shrugged and left the tent. This intrusion worked wonders on the tension that had previously filled the air, easing it into a rather relaxed atmosphere. Since Tezuka had already spoken, he continued on with an air of indifference.

"I hope you didn't have too much difficulty finding the camp?" he inquired. Fuji simply shrugged and muttered a "No, it was quite a long walk, though," not that he was complaining.

This comment made the Black Dragon raise an eyebrow from amusement. Either the man standing before him- he was a man, right?- was nervous, or he didn't like being put on the spot, or both. He couldn't figure out which, though, so he continued on.

"Is there something I can do for you?" This was just like Tezuka. Straight-to-the-point as usual. The man in front of him sighed.

"My name is Fuji Syuusuke. Of the Fuji family." That was obvious, but Tezuka didn't stop him as he continued, "I am here to propose a deal."

Tezuka waited patiently, thinking there was more to be said, however Fuji didn't say a thing so he decided to approach with caution (which for him means… getting straight to the point) "So, what kind of deal is this?"

Fuji looked at him, his eyes serious, before stating, "The vampires would like to make an alliance with the humans."

Tezuka looked skeptical, "Why would you want that?"

Fuji looked at him for a moment, before sighing and saying, "The werewolves know both of our armies' weaknesses. I would think that you of all people would understand that," in an isn't-it-obvious tone.

Tezuka nodded slowly and held out his hand, "You have yourselves a deal. On one condition."

Fuji looked at him calmly, "And what would that be?"

Tezuka smiled (a small smile), "You have to promise not to feed on any in the human army."

Fuji shrugged nonchalantly, "That's in the contract already. There's no need to repeat it."

When they were both satisfied with their answers, it was near 1 in the morning. Any normal person would be sleeping. But they weren't normal people, so they weren't sleeping. What simple logic. Fuji, now thoroughly hungry, asked permission to leave to go and find some food out in the wilderness. Tezuka granted it, asking the guard, Echizen, to escort him. Said guard carried out his duty without a complaint. He seemed to be the only one that was not afraid of Syuusuke, and as they were wandering around in the forest, he casually started a conversation.

"You know… Tezuka-buchou (and Fuji wondered why he called him that) said that he would have a messenger deliver the letter to the vampire army saying that they accepted the deal. The poor messenger. You should have seen him. He was literally quaking in his boots," and he laughed. He _laughed_ at the misfortune. Fuji stared at him and smirked. So humans had sadistic sides as well? This brought up an interesting point. Just how sadistic was this man, Echizen?

"Your _buchou_ called you Echizen. I suppose that is your last name. May I inquire as to your first name?" Fuji questioned, emphasizing the 'buchou'.

"Echizen Ryoma," he stated, "And you are…?"

"Fuji Syuusuke."

And then there was silence. A comfortable silence, but a silence all the same. This lasted until after Fuji had eaten and as they were walking back, Echizen stated calmly, "You have blood on your mouth." Fuji's hand instantly flew to his face. Echizen laughed and brought his own hand up to wipe off the remains of the blood on Fuji's mouth. Fuji blushed a light red. Ryoma smirked and brought his hand around to cup Fuji's cheek. Fuji took two steps backward with his head turned away.

"…We should really get back. It's late and I'm tired," and with that, he took off running toward the camp, Ryoma looking after him.

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When he got back to camp 30 minutes later, still sulking, Echizen Ryoma found Fuji Syuusuke in his tent, waiting for him.

"I was told to come here so that you could lead me to my tent, but since you were too busy brooding for the past half an hour, I had to wait. So excuse me for the breach in regulations, but I was so tired I couldn't stand anymore," Fuji responded to the unasked question. "Although, I could've just flown…" he added, almost as an afterthought.

And so, the day began with the vampire going into his tent, for, in this day and age, vampires were not afraid of the light (this is what made it possible to fight battles), but, in fact, liked it thoroughly.

Fuji stayed outside long enough to see the sun rise before sighing, "It's been a long night. Too bad I have to sleep now, it's going to be a beautiful day." And with that, he made his way to his bed.


	3. Sunset

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. But I wish it were.

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 3: _Sunset_

When Fuji Syuusuke woke up that night, there were only a few hours until sunset. He hadn't taken much notice of his tent that morning since he had only had enough energy to find the bed and fall into it, so now he took the time to look it over carefully. It was rather small, he thought, until he noticed that there was a flap leading into another area. It was like a suite, sans a kitchen, complete with a comfortable-looking couch and a nice coffee table. Fuji guessed that this suite, if it could be called a suite, was second only to a few in this camp. He had a suspicion that only two others had anything near to this: Tezuka Kunimitsu (that was a given, of course) and one Echizen Ryoma. He shrugged, not really caring much, and proceeded to walk out of his tent, stretching slowly and squinting against the sun.

One step out of the tent and Fuji knew something was wrong. Call it what you would, but it certainly was not female intuition. Or at least that was Fuji's reasoning. Anyway, there were two guards stationed at either side of his tent's entrance and the camp seemed to be in turmoil. Slightly confused, Fuji made his way to the leader's tent. There he met Echizen who was, once again, standing guard. He had a rather bored expression on his face as he looked around, guard duty was obviously one thing he didn't like doing.

Fuji was tempted to laugh. The camp was in disorder and the one spot that he was sure would be chaotic… wasn't. How ironic.

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With a yawn, Echizen Ryoma closed his eyes and leaned against the tent. This day was turning out to be extremely boring. Who cared if there was a traitor among them? It's not as if he could _do_ anything with all those men around. Seriously. Guard duty was just too tedious. He wished something more exciting would happen.

He looked into the sky and leaned farther back into the tent, resulting in him falling rather ungracefully through the tent flap which, he was sure, had been about 3 feet to the right of him the last time he checked. As he was getting up, or trying to for lack of progress, he heard a laugh and looked up. Fuji was standing over him with his hand held out to help him up. Ryoma took the proffered hand with a simple "Domo" and a nod.

Fuji rolled his eyes and voiced the question that had been running through his head before he had come across Echizen tangled up in the leader's tent flap, "Saa… Mind telling me what's happening this fair evening out in camp?"

Echizen looked at him as though he were insane, before finally realizing what he was talking about. "Oh… that. There seems to be a traitor among the men. The Quadrant Leaders are talking about it inside the tent." He didn't mention anything about how he had fallen into said tent.

Fuji had a feeling that Echizen wanted him to keep quiet about it and he would, in public anyway. He had no intention of letting such a humorous event go. Oh, no… it was too good of blackmail material for him to let it go. He smirked inwardly.

Outwardly, however, he stayed with the same amused look that had long ago become his mask of indifference. And without another word, Fuji Syuusuke strode through the aforementioned tent flap and toward the desk that he had first seen that morning, a sullen Echizen following behind.

There was a group of people crowding around in front of the desk and Fuji pushed past them impatiently, wondering what was going on. They looked at him and recoiled slightly as he made his way through, Echizen still following, although more composed than before. When he finally pushed his way to the front of the crowd, he found himself face to face with Tezuka Kunimitsu, who seemed to be frowning a little more than usual.

"Nice timing. I was just about to call you, Fuji," Tezuka looked at him briefly before looking at the Quadrant Leaders that were in front of him. "This is Momoshiro Takeshi," he said, indicating a tall man with black spiky hair and dark purple eyes, "and this is Kaidoh Kaoru," he continued, indicating an equally tall man with tanned skin, black hair that was covered with a dark blue bandana, and black eyes, "They are two of my Quadrant Leaders and I trust them with my life, if need be. Gentlemen, this is Fuji Syuusuke."

After all this was said, Echizen popped in with, "Resident vampire." This statement caused a stir of whispered comments and frightened looks from all those who were behind the two Quadrant Leaders, awestruck looks from the twosaid people, a glare directed at Echizen from Tezuka and a shrug from said guard.

Tezuka coughed and continued on, "We were just discussing the issue at hand. There seems to be a traitor among the camp and we are currently…" a pause, "debating who the traitor could be."

Fuji looked thoughtful, "Well the camp is certainly big enough." He sighed, "I suppose I have no choice. Have all of your men stand in whatever order you want. I'll check them."

Tezuka looked at him skeptically, "What do you plan to do?"

Fuji smiled, "I am one of several dying breeds, Tezuka-san," he said, adding the "san" almost as an afterthought, "The few others who have wings can vouch for me when I say that I am also part of the dwindling group of vampires that can tell truth from falsehood. It certainly comes in handy sometimes."

They stared at him, the men in back shifting uncomfortably.

Finally Tezuka broke the awkward silence, "Why didn't you say anything about this before?"

Fuji smiled gleefully, "You never asked." And with that, he walked out of the tent just in time to see the sun set.

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Sorry for the wait, but I was really stuck on this one. I didn't know what to write. I mean… I have ideas, it's just that they don't come in until later on and I have to get to that later on in order to use them. But I'm stuck. So… yeah. Sorry.

I also wanted to thank all of the people that are reviewing. Thank you for taking the time to write your comments, it makes me feel special. And I'll try _really_ hard to get the next one out before school starts.


	4. The Bell that Tolls

Ok, I lied, and I'm really sorry. I haven't had any time since school started to work on anything and my Microsoft Word isn't working. Currently I'm using Wordpad because that is the closest that I can get to Word. Sad? Yes... very.

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**Disclaimer:** Ok... well I don't own this. At all.

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**Circular Reality**  
Chapter 4: _The Bell That Tolls_

A few hours later, around midnight, Fuji once again found himself in front of the leader's tent, although this time facing the 50,000 or so men that were in the army. Out of all of them, one was a traitor. This would take some time. Fuji sighed impatiently as he began to walk through the rows of men, weaving back and forth, looking each in the face as he passed. Tezuka, Echizen, and the two Quadrant Leaders that he knew were there, watched him as he paused in front of a man some 30 rows back.

Fuji hesitated before speaking. "What's your name?"

The man looked terrified, not that anyone could blame him, being suspected of being a spy in the middle of a camp of 50,000+ men was never a good thing.

The man struggled internally before stuttering out a short, "Katsuo, sir"

Fuji looked amused, "Well, Katsuo, I think you'd better tell everyone your secret or else they might get even more suspicious of you."

Katsuo let out a breath and turned to face his commanding officer who was staring at him rather bashfully, "Momoshiro-san, I'm... I'm... I'm..." Everyone waited patiently for him to continue, "I'm... gay." You know how people fall in anime? An anime fall? Well imagine more than 50,000 men, lined up in 50 rows doing it. Amusing? You bet.

Fuji continued down the line of the, now not-so-calm, soldiers. He stopped calmly in front of another man with a big unibrow (two guesses who that is). "You," he said in a deadly calm voice, "What is your name?" The man visibly gulped and his eyes shifted around from one side to the other in search of help. None was offered, however, and he turned his panicked gaze to Fuji.

"Sir, my name is Horio, sir," he yelled out.

"Horio, ka?" Fuji's eyes were open and deadly-looking.

"H-hai."

"Well, Horio. You shall pay."

"Pay for what, sir?" Horio asked in what appeared to be genuine curiosity.

"You shall pay for making me do this. You nasty traitor. There are more than 50,000 men here and you gave me no choice other than to search all of your minds." And that was when Horio made a break for it. Needless to say he didn't make it very far. He was in the 25th line, after all. They knocked him out when he tried to fight back and Fuji walked slowly back to his tent, swaying slightly. Echizen followed him, telling him how amazing it was what he did and other things such as that. Fuji stopped paying attention halfway through.

When Ryoma finally realized that the vampire was not paying attention and was swaying dangerously, he steadied the man by putting his arm around him. Half-carrying him to the tent, he helped him through and to his bed.

Fuji collapsed on the bed as soon as he felt it underneath him. It took too much power to try to read one mind after another after another. He had probably overdone it and was amazed he had even gotten so far. Usually, he would only be able to read a maximum of 10 minds in a day. But this day he had gone through several hundred.

Fuji noticed that Echizen was by his bed, fidgeting and looking nervous. He chuckled quietly, "You know... if you want to help me out, you could get me some water... or maybe some food."

The shorter man smirked and said, "I'll let you have some of mine," here he pointed to his neck, "If you behave yourself." But then he left the tent in search of water.

Obviously finding this an opportune moment, a man in black jumped in through the tent flap which the guard had left open and snuck through to where the vampire lay.

Fuji knew the man was there. It was an instinct that he had grown accustomed to over the years. He could tell whenever someone tried to sneak up to him. He could smell their blood. He did not kill the man right away, instead pretending to be asleep in hopes that the man would come closer to try and kill him, for that was what he had probably come for.

The man did indeed go closer to him and tried to put his hands around Fuji's neck, who, at the last second, caught the man's hand with his own and pulled him down. When he pulled away, fangs dripping with blood, he took a good look at his victim. It was definitely not a soldier from this army. Therefore, he had been sent in on special assignment, which meant that he had some sort of special item on him. One of the few items that could harm a vampire, perhaps. Fuji cursed and threw the man to the floor.

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Echizen breezed in several minutes later, holding a cup of water which he gently set down on Fuji's nightstand. He looked down at the man, now on the floor, and then at Fuji. 

"Assassin?" One-word question.

"Yes." One-word answer.

"Tried to kill you?" Four-word question.

"Indeed, he did try." Four-word answer.

"'Try' being the key word?" Five-word question.

"I wouldn't let anyone succeed." Five-word answer.

"Ah." A simple agreement.

Silence reigned for a few minutes before Echizen broke it once again, "Still hungry?"

"No, though his blood was repulsive."

A smirk, "Wash your mouth out."

"With what?"

Echizen picked up the cup of water and thrust it into Fuji's face, "With this."

"Ah."

Another long silence commenced before Fuji fell asleep and Echizen stayed to watch him, leaving long after midnight.

In the darkness, a lone figure crept toward the vampire's tent. And then it disappeared. Like a shadow, like a whisper, it was gone.

And without delay, the morning bell rang, waking all from their slumber. All... but the vampire named Fuji, who was still in a deep sleep. He would sleep for 2 days. During those two days, there would be 10 assassination attempts. The one who would protect him would be the one who loved him most.

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What do you think? I'm sorry that it's so terrible. I went totally brain-dead trying to think of what to write lol. 

Anyway... I think I'll start replying to reviews now.

Yoshikochan- I'm sorry it's been so long. I'll continue when I think up something new (probably next weekend)

Satsukiyami- Thank you :D I'm glad you like it. I'll continue probably next weekend (as it says above :D)


	5. What Once Was

Ok, so I lied. Badly. I'm very sorry, but I've been so busy lately that I barely have any time to myself. School sucks like that. Anyway, here's chappie 5!

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 5: _What Once Was_

When Fuji Syuusuke woke up to what he thought was the next morning, he stretched and tried to get out of his bed. He managed to sit up but was hit with a wave of dizzyness, so he leaned heavily on the backboard. When his nausea had passed, he sat up and calmly tried to swing his legs around to the side of the bed. Although it took him a few minutes longer than usual, he managed and took a deep breath before trying to stand up. As soon as his feet touched the ground, however, he pulled them back with a hiss. The ground was freezing. Usually, he didn't take much notice of the temperature of anything, but in his weakened state he couldn't help but acknowledge it.

That was when he noticed two very amused golden eyes gazing at him from the chair next to his bed. He glared and mentally cursed himself for not realizing sooner that someone had been watching him.

The man seated comfortably on the armchair that had been pulled up to his bed chuckled before getting up and pushing Fuji back onto his bed.

"You really should rest, you used a lot of energy during the search," Echizen Ryoma stated calmly, covering the vampire with blankets once again.

"And why would _you_ care?" was Fuji's response.

Echizen chuckled again before leaning down and whispering something into Fuji's ear. The vampire blushed deeply and Echizen smirked before walking to the tent flap, calling out "I'll get you something warm to eat. Don't get out of bed. I don't want to find you on the floor when I get back," as he walked out.

So Fuji did as he was told and stared at the top of his tent. He had never taken any notice of it and he didn't know why he was noticing it now, but his tent was black and it made him think of his younger brother and older sister. Of course that only brought to mind the horrible slaughter that had resulted in their parents' deaths and he clenched his fist so tight that he drew blood.

_

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100 years, 2 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes, and 7 seconds earlier..._

A 10-year old Fuji stared out his window. The sky was darker than usual and the wind blew in gusts, powerful enough to endanger the poor lamp post right outside his window. More darkness seeped in slowly as the clouds covered the moon. It began to rain. The droplets fell sporadically at first, but it soon turned into a downpour.

Fuji was always fascinated by rain. He stared out the window as it grew in intensity. He was small enough to believe the myths that when it rained it meant that a god was crying, but old enough to realize that he should ignore his parents while they bickered. He led a sad life. His parents would argue any time they thought they needed to. Which happened to include 2 in the morning. So he was up a little earlier than usual (his parents usually left their "conversations" for past 4 in the morning and before 11 at night) sitting on his bed, head pressed against the window and elbows leaning on the window ledge, head propped up on open hands. His brother was snuggled to one side of him and his older sister lay somewhere to the other side. Ever since his parents had started arguing, it would always be like this. His brother would creep quietly into his room, eyes begging permission to stay until they stopped, and his sister came in sometime after, her bedroom being closest to his parents, and they would lay in his bed until his younger brother would fall asleep, sometimes playing soft music to quicken the process. Then his sister would fall asleep and he would be stuck in between them, unable to fall asleep himself. Always.

Fuji never bothered to wonder why he wasn't able to fall asleep during his parents' arguments, thinking that it was only because of his increased hearing and his awkwardly young age. For one so small, he had more wisdom than, it seemed, his parents did. He sighed and returned his gaze to the rain, which had strayed to his sister and brother to either side of him, and stared at the street in front of him. There was a figure standing there and he squinted in hopes of seeing any distinguishing marks that would tell him who the figure was. However, it was so dark that he could not make anything out, even with his amazing eyesight.

He silently woke his older sister, who in turn woke his brother. They stared at him for a moment before he pointed outside. Following his finger, they noticed the figure and gasped. Puzzled, he turned his gaze to the figure and saw that it had come closer than it was before. In fact, it was still walking. Towards their house. He knew nothing good could come of this, so he pressed a finger to his lips and crept quietly out of his room and to his parents'.

When he opened the door to his parents' room, he noticed that they were standing on opposite sides of the bed, shouting at each other. As soon as they heard the door however, they immediately stopped and looked toward the noise and to where he was standing. He gulped. He had never seen such an angry look on his mother's face. His father was a different story altogether. He was always angry, or so it seemed.

In a low voice filled with respect he told them what he had seen. When he was finished, he looked up from where he had been staring at the ground to see that his mother looked worried and his father looked furious, more so than usual. They strode past him and he was told briskly that he should take his brother and his sister down to the cellar and barricade themselves in, only coming out if either his mother or father told him to, or if at least two days had passed. He did this quickly and efficiently, ushering them there before rushing back and taking a few blankets and the futon that he slept on. He also ended up taking his pillow and some other provisions that he thought they might need. As soon as he had closed the door to the cellar, he heard fighting erupt from above. Quickly he locked the hatch and went to sit near his siblings beneath the stairs. There he closed the little door, making the remaining light disappear and proceeded to turn on the light that he had brought with him. It was small and he was sure nobody would notice it from outside. They sat there for two days.

When those two days were up, Fuji slowly opened the door to the closet-like space they had been in and crawled out, followed closely by his siblings. They walked up the stairs slowly, making sure to make as little noise as possible. As soon as Fuji opened the hatch of the cellar, he knew he shouldn't have. He should have found another way out. For there, laying on the now blood-stained rug were his parents. They were obviously dead. He looked around a bit more to find his house burned down and that it was rather cold, probably the after-affect of the rain. He knew, in some way or another, that it had rained for those two days that they had been under the burned house. Getting to his feet from where he was kneeling next to his parents, he noticed that his house was not the only one that was gone, his family not the only one that was gone. All around him was death and destruction. They were the only ones alive.

A few days later, after gathering as many provisions as they could, they left their town. They left their lives behind. For revenge. All of this was to avenge the hundreds of deaths that had occurred during that one day of rain.

_

* * *

Present..._

Echizen walked in to find Fuji still laying in bed as he had commanded, tears falling down his cheeks.

He cleared his throat and said, "I found you something warm to eat, but I also managed to scrounge up some_one_ warm to eat." There was a pause, "And there's beer."

And that ruined the moment.

* * *

Wow, that has got to be the suckiest ending that I could come up with. I'm very sorry about the delay and everything.

Review Replies-

yoshikochan- The humans are unimportant in this story, really . They're not really meant to be unimportant, but they kinda turned out to be. I'm sorry. Anyway, thank you for reviewing and yes, Horio did deserve to be smashed. :D (I've always hated him... so annoying)

Satsukiyami- Thank you very much! (I think...) And sorry I haven't updated in SO long. I'm an idiot. Really I am.

bloodyredsilver- Thank you and sorry that I haven't had this posted until, well, now.


	6. Better Left Buried

**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 6: _Better Left Buried_

_Whap._

Echizen knew he deserved it, but he couldn't keep the grin off his now red face. Here he was, several days later, serving the still-bedridden vampire wine. And he had just made a wise-crack he knew wouldn't be taken very well. And it wasn't- taken well, that is- the slap was proof enough.

Echizen paused for a moment before _laughing_.

Fuji glared at him. "And just _what_ is so funny?" he practically hissed.

Echizen, attempting to halt his laughter, managed to stutter out, "I didn't think you'd bitch-slap me."

_Whap._

And thus his other cheek became a nice shade of crimson as well.

* * *

As soon as Echizen had left his tent in search of something to alleviate the pain that his bruised cheeks were giving him, Fuji laid down on his would-you-call-it-a-bed? and stared at the canvas that served as a ceiling. Sighing, he let his mind wander to the past... _**

* * *

One year after the massacre... **_

The Fuji siblings had finally found the murderers of their village. After a long struggle, they finally avenged those that were important to them, but not without a price. For each of the Fuji siblings sported two small holes at the base of their throats. It was a cause for worry.

Of course they knew what had happened to them, but one refused to acknowledge tche fact that he was now a vampire...

_"This is _preposterous_. There's no such thing as vampires," _yelled Yuuta. His siblings simply stared at him.

_"Then what would you call _these_?" _asked Syuusuke as he pointed to his younger brother's neck. Yuuta was silent for a while.

_"That doesn't mean that _we_ are vampires, though," _he whined, almost desperately.

_"Yuuta... you're being obstinate. What else could these bite marks mean?"_ This from their sister, who until then had been as silent as the grave.

Yuuta gave in, mumbling random comments under his breath, most likely cursing everything from the earth to the moon and back.

And so began their journey to find the place where they belonged.

* * *

Fuji Syuusuke woke with a start. He had drifted off and had _that_ dream again, hadn't he? He cursed himself for digging up old memories that should have stayed buried.

When he realized that he was not alone in the room, he sighed. Why did it seem as though he was always being stalked? Opening his still-closed eyes, he took in the sight before him.

There sat Tezuka Kunimitsu, with a pouting Echizen Ryoma standing behind him, hands holding ice packs to his cheeks. The vampire chuckled. Tezuka looked at him and Echizen stared off in some other random direction, supposedly looking for something.

"Ah, you are awake," observed Tezuka after a brief period of time.

"Hai, do you need something?" Straight and to the point.

Tezuka chuckled, "I was just wondering why my _guard_ had two red, swollen cheeks. I was told that he did something to make you mad and you, and I quote, 'bitch-slapped' him. However, he seems to have no hard feelings or anything of the sort and only wishes to forget about it."

Fuji paused, "...You're being contradictory."

Echizen laughed. _No one_ had ever told Tezuka anything like that before.

There was a pause. And then, "And I think you wanted to use another word instead of 'guard'." They both gaped at him as he smirked, Echizen also turning a delightful shade of red.

Waiting for a response, Fuji lay still on the bed humming softly and staring at the two near his bed.

Tezuka regained his bearings before Echizen did and spoke calmly, although Fuji easily picked up on the slightly embarrassed tone that lurked beneath the calm exterior, "What are you talking about?"

"Nan-de-mo-nai," Fuji practically smirked out.

And thus, exactly 2 minutes and 30 seconds later, a rather disgruntled Tezuka strutted out of the vampire's tent followed closely by a still-blushing Echizen.

* * *

And there's part 6! I hoped you all enjoy it. It's a little shorter than my usual ones and I apologize for that. Anyway... Happy Thanksgiving! 

Reviews:

**yoshikochan**- I think this chapter answered your question. Or at least I hope it did. I'm glad you liked the flashback. Thanks for sticking with my story even though I'm a rather slow updater.

**bloodyredsilver**- I believe this chapter answered your question as well. Thanks for the review!

**Satsukiyami**- Yeah, he just had to. I couldn't bear to end the chapter sadly. I guess I'm kinda like that.

**Ai-Kusabana**- Ah, thank you. Oh I feel so special! I got a new reviewer! -does a little happy dance- Thank you for reading my story! I'm glad you like it. I'll try to keep them coming faster than I have in the past (see what one review can do? lol) and hopefully I can finish it up before it gets to like... 20 chapters. I know that even I dislike reading that many chapters unless the story is really good. Oops, I'm rambling. Anyway, thanks for the review!


	7. Falling Apart

**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 7: _Falling Apart_

Fuji Syuusuke's head swam as he woke up groggily. He didn't remember much and he struggled to stay conscious as his body begged him for rest. As he opened his eyes, the tent he was in, a dark green one, blurred and rocked. He was sure that it really wasn't rocking back and forth, but was unable to clear his vision enough to see properly. He tried to remember everything that had happened to him.

He was smirking at his triumph as Tezuka Kunimitsu and Echizen Ryoma walked hurriedly out of his tent and, although he wasn't feeling as well as he usually did, he was in high spirits. He sat up slowly and the tent did an abrupt loop-de-loop. Putting his hands to his head to stop the spinning, he wondered groggily why he was feeling so terrible. The answer hit him, literally, seconds later. He felt two strong arms wrap around his waist and heave him up. He struggled and the man held up something he couldn't quite see. He cursed his failing vision as realization struck him like a bolt of lightning- in other words very, very painfully. He remembered passing out at that moment and nothing past that.

Sighing, he tried to run his hand through his hair, only to discover that his hands were restrained somewhere near his sides, and by the burning sensation that ran through them when he attempted to move them, he was pretty sure that he was encased in anti-vampire ropes. He sighed knowing that there was no way to get out of them without, in the process, losing both arms and legs and perhaps breaking a rib, and, as he didn't wish to do anything like this, he stopped struggling and feigned sleep. It was just in time, too, for only seconds later he heard the tell-tale _swish_ of the opening tent flap and several sets of footsteps walking toward where he was laying.

He decided that he would let no one, _no one_, touch him. With that said, or thought in his case, he tensed his body, waiting for the inevitable feeling that would let him know that they were near. It didn't come.

Instead of opening his eyes to see what the heck they were doing and in the process giving away the fact that he was only feigning sleep, Fuji opted for using his other three senses, his sense of touch still no good with restraints that could turn the feeling of a hard bed beneath his hands into pure pain. Listening closely, he could make out the many sounds around him. There were several men and a woman standing near his bed whispering- most likely out of fear of waking him, far-off yells and shouts coming from outside the tent he was situated in, and the clink of blacksmith hammers against swords or shields or whatever was being made or repaired at the time. He was in another army camp. This alone would have made him groan, yet he held it in, instead being silent so as not to alert anyone to his state of consciousness. He sniffed once discreetly, making it out to seem as though it were part of some random dream that plagued him in his sleep, and could smell the fires of the nearby smithy, meat being cooked on fires built against the cold, and a faint scent of something else, something he couldn't identify.

With a start, he realized that he had not been paying attention and that, while he was thinking of other things, the voices of the people, if they were really people, who had been in the tent had stopped. Fuji, not knowing whether or not he was alone again, did not risk opening his eyes, but instead desperately reached around with his mind, searching for any sources of consciousness. Of course, he could only do this because he was a vampire, and even for him it was difficult to do. When he had searched what he hoped to be every inch in the tent, based on previous data that he had from when he had his eyes open, he opened his eyes once again and glanced around. Finding no one, he sighed with relief and managed to push himself up to a sitting position without moving his arms or legs, though still hitting the anti-vampire ropes harder than he wished to. Wincing in pain, he managed to hold in the gasp that threatened to escape while slowly inching his way to the side of the bed.

One more cautious look around the room and he was standing on the ground, trying to figure out what he was going to do to get the ropes off. Releasing his wings was definitely not a good idea, since the ropes would most likely tear them to pieces just from one touch and there was nothing sharp enough around to cut a piece of string, let alone rope. He sighed in frustration and stood there for another moment, pondering what to do next. The sound of footsteps brought him out of his slight daze and he looked around in half-panic, looking for somewhere to hide. Making a quick decision, he dove underneath the bed and scooted in farther so as to be better hidden. Containing a hiss from the pain that struck him as the ropes dug into his side, he slowly turned around so he was lying on his back and stared up at the bed, wishing he was a sorcerer. At least then he could hide himself properly. Meanwhile, the footsteps were coming closer and closer and he heard them stop in front of his tent flap.

There was something wrong, something was a tiny bit off from a few minutes prior, but Fuji couldn't tell what it was. All he could hear were the footsteps coming steadily closer, almost stealthily, as though they were trying to escape notice from all but one person. He concentrated a bit more, listening for the steady rise and fall of the blacksmith hammers and the roar of the fires, however he could not hear them. Everything had stopped, as though frozen. Frozen in time. Fuji's blood froze and he tensed as he waited patiently for the owner of those resounding footsteps to find him, for he knew that nothing could save him if there was a sorcerer about unless the sorcerer was on his side. Shaking the thought out of his head- it was impossible- he waited as the footsteps got closer and closer, finally stopping before the bed.

A gentle whisper, "Syuusuke?" and he was crawling hastily toward the owner of the voice. He struggled to roll out from underneath the bed and finally managed it, heaving a great sigh. There, standing before him, was Oshitari Yuushi, the only vampire that was also a sorcerer. He worked directly under Atobe Keigo, who was the leader of one of the four noble families that existed within the vampiric world, as his advisor and friend.

Moments later, Fuji was free from his binds and he, Oshitari, and Kabaji Munehiro, Atobe's most loyal servant who never said anything more than the occasional "Ussu", were walking calmly out of the camp, which was still frozen in time. Once they were within the forest that surrounded the camp, Oshitari let his spell go and sounds erupted once again from the camp. It would take a few hours at most for them to realize that Fuji was missing, so the three vampires quickly made their way through the forest, only pausing occasionally.

At the other side of the forest, Fuji was met with a rare sight. Mukahi Gakuto, Oshitari Yuushi's partner and best friend- also the most hyperactive guy that you'd ever find, with a large ego to boot- was arguing with a somewhat-sleepy Akutagawa Jirou, who, for some reason, had absolutely no job, but still lived in the Atobe castle. Of course, his lack of a job could probably be blamed on the fact that no matter where he went, he was almost always asleep and would only wake up at odd times or on missions. That aside, he normally could not stay awake long enough to have an argument, but lo and behold, he was sitting there, yawning, and saying something about how Gakuto _did_, in fact, have odd girly hair. Gakuto responded in kind, yelling that at least _his_ hair wasn't curly and that straight hair was _so_ much better. Oshitari shook his head and motioned for Fuji to get on the carriage that would most likely take them back to Atobe Castle. Minutes later, they were on their way and Jirou had fallen back asleep, Oshitari was talking quietly with Gakuto, and Kabaji was sitting staring straight ahead, reins in hand, with a dazed look in his eyes. Fuji sighed, Atobe had the _weirdest_ company.

* * *

Well I'm sorry this took so long to come out and maybe I shouldn't promise anything anymore... That aside, I'll be replying to reviews now.

yoshikochan- Yes, that's what happened. Although I _think_ there's gonna be more to the story. But you'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

apocadelic- Thank you very much! And thank you for reviewing, as well.

Satsukiyami- Totally. He needed a little... spice, I guess you could say, because Fuji was _really_ boring in the first 5 chapters, or at least that's what I think.


	8. The Distant Past

So I got a lot of questions about what happened in the last chapter. I'm sorry if it seemed confusing or anything, because it really wasn't supposed to be. I'll just clear up some of the questions that were asked.

**How did Syuusuke get kidnapped?**

This was probably the most confusing thing in the last chapter. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it, since it doesn't say what actually happened. Supposedly the kidnapper used an anti-vampire device, much like a sedative except with pain. It's ideal use in this story is to capture vampires, so... yeah. That's what I meant by the "lightning" bit. I probably should have made it more clear.

**Did Tezuka and the rest know about this?**

That isn't supposed to be answered within the chapter. It will be covered in one of the next few chapters, maybe even this one.

**What's his relation to Atobe?**

That isn't supposed to be answered within chapter 7, either. Same as the last question.

**What's with arguing about hairstyles?**

Well, I really wanted to add in a bit of randomness to the story, although it is rather random on it's own, so I referenced a comment that my friend made when I showed her a picture of the characters. When I showed her the picture of Gakuto she said, and I quote, "He has girly hair". Then, I guess I needed something for Gakuto to shoot back... so that's what I ended up with.

**Why was he bound by rope?**

Well, in this story, details are really important. I believe in one of the previous chapters I mentioned that he was staying in a black tent. Chapter 7 shows him in a green tent, which is meant to convey that he was moved. I don't think I come right out and say it (do I?) but he was kidnapped.

* * *

Ok, now that I'm done with that, on to the next chapter but first...

**Disclaimer:** I only wish.

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 8: _The Distant Past_

It had been several hours since they had started the journey, and, as far as Fuji could tell, there was no one following them, but they sped along as though there were. Fuji supposed it was just Oshitari being his usual careful self. He rolled his eyes, or perhaps it was because Atobe had ordered them to hurry? Whatever the case, they continued to speed along the slightly-bumpy road. Eventually, they could make out the tall dark grey, almost-black, spires of Atobe Castle and the horses seemed to go even faster, if possible. Atobe was standing in front of his big castle doors when they arrived, looking as though he had only stood there for a few minutes, but at the same time for hours.

He greeted them with his usual smirk and spoke calmly, "Had a good trip, I'm sure. Aa?"

Fuji, of course, rolled his eyes and made sure to reply in "a manner befitting his status" as Atobe had told him on many past occasions, "Not much better than being here. And we _all_ know how much I like being _here_." Even Jirou should have picked up the sarcasm-- he was currently sleeping-- but Atobe, if he heard it all, ignored it completely, welcoming him in with a grand gesture.

"Ore-sama has updated the palace. Be awed by ore-sama's prowess in decorating ore-sama's perfect castle in a manner that fits it perfectly--"

"Yeah, yeah, Atobe. Cut the 'ore-sama' crap. I'm exhausted. A room, if you will?" Fuji cut in smoothly, almost as though he were used to doing so.

Atobe relented with a glare, "Your room will be your usual room and you know where it is. I don't believe you have any bags with you so you can make it on your own-- if you still remember the way. However, for future reference I would suggest speaking in a manner that suits you, Fuji Syuusuke."

"Manner this, manner that. Jeez, Atobe, you're worse than you were 50 years ago. I'm going to take a long bath."

Fuji strode past a scowling Atobe and through the doors, up the stairs and down the hall. He had memorized the path many years ago and took it with an almost-relaxed ease that suited him just fine. Right here, 20 steps, another right, 25 steps, left, 30 steps, right, 40 steps, left, up a flight of stairs, 14 steps, another left, 19 steps, right, 29 steps, left, and it's the second door to the right. Yes, Fuji had even memorized the number of steps it took him to get there: almost 200 steps in total. And that wasn't counting the walk through the hall. Sometimes he wished Atobe's castle wasn't so large and easy to get lost in. Then maybe he wouldn't have random people showing up at his door at ungodly hours of the night-- or morning-- wondering where the heck they were and how the heck they could get to the bathroom or, in some cases, back to their rooms.

He promised himself he'd bring it up with Atobe later. Or maybe Oshitari, he was always the more active listener. Atobe seemed to just brush everything off with a slightly-more-dramatic-than-necessary "Be awed by ore-sama's prowess" or the occasional "Be awed by ore-sama-tachi's prowess" if he was in the mood. This was usually when either Oshitari or Sanada Genichirou, another vampire leader, who, along with his cohorts-- he had many and only a few of them were worth mentioning-- seemed to spend more time in Atobe Castle than in their own castles. Actually, Fuji wasn't exactly sure whether they had their own castles or spent their time at Rikkaidai Castle- the second biggest castle in all the land, the first being Atobe's

As Fuji soaked in the warm, cherry blossom scented bath-- somehow Atobe thought it suited him, so ever since he had started coming here, he would always find it in his bathroom, ready for use-- he thought of the rest of the "Rikkaidai team" as he had come to call them in his mind. There was Marui Bunta, who seemed to be called the "Volley Specialist" for reasons that Fuji had no idea about-- he figured he'd ask someone about that later on; Jackal Kuwahara, the "Defense Specialist" and one of the best defense strategists Fuji had ever met-- if not the best; Niou Masaharu, "the Man with the Moves"-- Fuji had no idea about this one either... maybe he should find some time later on to question someone about all this; Yagyuu Hiroshi, "the Gentleman", the most well-bred man you could ever meet, always seemed to cover Niou's faults and without him Niou Masaharu would most likely be in loads of trouble-- Fuji chuckled, he could just picture it; Kirihara Akaya was called "the Junior Ace", most likely because he was the youngest out of the group, but was actually extremely helpful when push came to shove-- Fuji didn't know what Rikkaidai would do without him, he was a troublemaker to the bone... on second thought, perhaps they'd be much better off; Yanagi Renji, "the Master" and the third most important person in all of Rikkaidai, was very hard to understand-- Fuji mused that they were very alike, they always kept their eyes closed, after all-- but Yanagi was a very succesful politician and Fuji was seriously lacking in that division, preferring instead to sit out on the sidelines and make sarcastic comments that almost always upset _someone_; Sanada Genichirou, "the Emperor", was only a leader because their old leader, Yukimura Seiichi, had fallen ill with a disease-- not strong enough to be lethal, but strong enough to keep him away from governing as he usually would.

Fuji slowly made his way out of the bath and back to his room. He quickly got dressed and then lay down in his bed. Only moments later there was a knock at his door and he opened it to see a scowling Shishido Ryou, part of the "Hyotei team"-- Fuji always delighted in grouping people into batches, it was lots of fun. Shishido was almost always scowling and the only one who could ever get that expression off his face was Ootori Choutarou, his partner. Together they formed a very good pair: almost as good as Marui Bunta and Jackal Kuwahara and not nearly as good as Niou Masaharu and Yagyuu Hiroshi. They worked on projects not relating to politics-- Fuji had absolutely no idea what that entailed, but he figured it was something like evicting people from their homes, intimidating people, and yelling at people; however, if Atobe was concerned, then perhaps it would be something more "graceful", but you could never tell with that moody guy.

"Atobe says that dinner's almost ready," Shishido snapped impatiently, "I still don't know why he hasn't installed any electronic systems in this place. God knows we need it. I hate being an errand boy."

Fuji chuckled and slipped out through his door, closing it behind him and they headed on their way. A good 700 steps later-- the dining room they were going to be using was much farther away-- and they were seated at a fairly small table for Atobe's standards, at least-- it could still seat at least 30 people, Fuji estimated. This was one of the smaller dining rooms that Atobe preferred to use when he wasn't entertaining anyone special, perhaps a couple close friends-- a couple, of course, meaning around 25. There were 5 other dining rooms, each larger than the one before it; at least 7 kitchens-- that was all that Fuji had run into in all his years here, but then again, Fuji never really had a knack for exploring big, creepy mansions that practically screamed "You'll get lost if you stray too far"; a good 500 bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms-- Fuji wondered how large of a servant population Atobe had with all these rooms and how long everything took to clean; 10 public bathrooms, most leading off of the hall and the rather long corridors; 3 large-screen cinemas and at least 6 small-screen ones; and a few large courtyards to complete it. Overall, Fuji wondered how a mansion of this size could support as many balconies as were out there and how it hadn't fallen in that war a couple years back that threatened it. God only knew.

Surprisingly, when they arrived at the dining room, Fuji saw Echizen Ryoma and Tezuka Kunimitsu sitting there chatting with the vampires as if they were old friends-- and they could have been for all he knew. He greeted them with the usual smile on his face and studied their expressions. It was obvious that they weren't at all intimidated by the vampires surrounding them. They looked at him, shocked, and greeted him with smiles on their faces-- a small, reserved grin on Tezuka's part and a rather happy-looking smirk on Ryoma's. Everyone spent the next hour eating and chatting across the large table while Atobe looked on-- and just _what_ was that smirk about anyway?

* * *

Phew... sorry this took a while to come out. I know it's a little shorter than usual, but bear with me here, it took quite a bit of effort and sleep-deprivation to come up with. As usual, inspiration came right before bedtime, making it the worst time ever to spring up on me.

Haaaaaaaaah... I just proofread this and I found _so_ many errors. I suppose I should have expected it because I _did_ write it up at around 12 last night, but still. Anyway, here's the _edited_ version. Hope you enjoyed it.

**

* * *

Review time-**

**yoshikochan**- I hope I answered your question and thank you very much for reviewing. You can ask all the question you want, I don't mind at all. Hyotei is, most likely, my favorite team in the Prince of Tennis team. I like to have lots of fun things going on with the characters because of that.

**merissala**- Thank you very much! I think I cleared up your question, as well. Ask any more if you wish.

**Ai-Kusabana**- I'm sorry this one isn't as long as the usual ones, but I'm sure the questions'll take a bit of time to read, so that kinda makes up for it... I think. That aside, I take no offense when anyone says I'm weird, because I know it's true, lol. Thank you for sticking with the story up to now. I realize I'm a really slow updater and I'm working hard to fix that.

**Sesshyro**- Ah, thank you. I like shorter chapters as well, but lately I've been trying- it hasn't been working very well- to make longer chapters. Of course that only results in a longer wait period, so I figured that I'd give up on that.


	9. The Inner Workings of His Mind

**Disclaimer**: Do not own.

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 9: _The Inner Workings of **His **__Mind_

Have you ever had the feeling that you've already done something that you were currently in the process of doing? And you know—you _know_—that you haven't, yet you still think you have?

Fuji Syuusuke hates the feeling of déjà vu. It makes him feel something akin to vulnerable, and he has always hated feeling as though he were open to the world—as though he had some weakness that would reveal itself if he were to stop and think for just a moment. Perhaps it was the knowledge that there were hundreds of people—hundreds, not ten, not twenty, but _hundreds_—that thirst for his blood was what caused this strange paranoia to spring up, but he found that one day he began to dislike the feeling of showing his emotions to others.

Ever since that day, he has found himself hiding behind a mask of indifference—one that grins at all in an empty parody of a smile—and wondering just what it would take to make the feeling go away. Of course, since he finds that same fake grin still plastered to his face, one could say that he was nowhere near finding the answer to his unasked question. Instead, he hides his eyes—beautifully blue, especially when they reflect the light _just_ so—in an attempt to hide from the world. It doesn't work, and he finds—with the slightest bit of encouragement: a smile here, a light touch there, and a half-hearted smirk—that maybe he _can_ find a way to get rid of this god-forsaken '_smile_' that has plagued him for over 20 years.

No one knows just what goes on in Fuji Syuusuke's mind and Fuji likes it that way. But he supposes that he would like it much more if _he_ knew what was going on in his own mind. Then, he supposed, he could feel much more accomplished and perhaps a bit more satisfied. And then he wonders whether or not he had _ever_ felt satisfied with anything he had ever done. Which sets him off on a track that he does not like to go down; however, he follows it and ends up knee-deep in sorrowful memories that he would do anything—_anything_—to get rid of. Yet he stays there, wallowing—sometimes in self-loathing, other times in sorrow—as his body begins to feel weary and then he pulls himself up for air and sees the worried face of someone he would rather not see at the moment—one that plagued his memories in a good way, which hurt all that much more.

He pulls away and wonders just _what_ Atobe could be doing in his room. His eyes roam, settling on the bright red numbers of the alarm clock on the beautifully-carved wooden nightstand next to his bed. It blinks at him—or perhaps he was the one blinking at it?—reading that it was currently 2:31 in the morning. And… just _what_ was Atobe doing in his room? Fuji's eyebrows furrow. He is _sure_ he'd already asked that. Fighting an internal battle, Fuji sits up and pinches the bridge of his nose—to keep away the headache threatening to unfold, or so he tells himself—and sighs in resignation.

"Atobe, it is extremely early. Just _what_ do you think you're doing in _my_ room?" he bites out. He was getting tired of asking the same questions and not getting any answers.

"Well, if you think about it, this is actually _ore-sama's_ room, since this is _ore-sama's_ castle," he pauses for dramatic effect—or at least that's what Fuji thinks he is doing, Atobe really could be annoying sometimes—and then continues on, "However, ore-sama is only here to inform you that your brother and your sister have both arrived and are currently sleeping in two other guest rooms." Here he tapers off, leaving Fuji time to come up with some indignant remark.

"As I should be doing," he scowls up at Atobe, "And why couldn't you inform me of this in the _morning_?"

"Ore-sama thought that _you_ would much rather know _now_ so that _you_ wouldn't be so surprised in the morning. Ore-sama knows how much you dislike showing your emotions."

Fuji—had he been a normal vampire—would have gaped then and there, but, as he is more _reserved_ than most, he simply stares up at the man who he had thought was shallow and self-centered. This assumption was quickly shot down. And Fuji wasn't so sure he liked the idea of someone else knowing what went on in his head—because he, himself, did not.

After several seconds of delay, Fuji finally manages to get out a half-hearted "And here I thought you were an egotistical, vain bastard."

Atobe scoffs, "Am not."

"But you're still childish after all these years," Fuji states in a singsong voice.

"…Am not." Was that a _blush_?

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

This conversation—if it could be called that—goes on for sometime, before Fuji pauses amidst the light bantering, becoming serious almost immediately.

"But you know… you sure have changed these last 50 years." Fuji sounds reminiscent, as though he is thinking of good times that had long past—and perhaps he is.

Atobe chuckles and Fuji thinks that the world is right again—he had never thought of Atobe as the childish type, he _was_ a leader, after all.

Then, there is a slight lull in the conversation—pleasant and not at all uncomfortable—as each takes time to think of what had been and what was.

"You know…" they speak in unison. They're surprised—one blinks and the other stares—then they burst out in laughter that had been long in coming.

"You… first," Atobe manages to get out through his mirth. But Fuji is too winded and having too much fun laughing as though he has no worries to really care that neither of them are talking, or that it is already past three in the morning. Finally, after a few minutes of quiet laughter, they both manage to get their acts together and start to wonder just _what_ was so funny in the first place.

"I was just going to say that those two years were the best two years of my life." And Fuji knows that Atobe knows what he is talking about. Atobe practically beams.

"And _I_ was going to say that I miss what we had 50 years ago." Fuji notices the lapse before Atobe does and smiles smugly.

Fuji lets out a large yawn and mumbles something about talking about in the morning before moving over to make room for Atobe. Smirking, Atobe lays down next to the other and before he knows it, he's floating in the land of dreams.

* * *

The morning finds them curled up together with several people banging at the door. Obviously Eiji and Saeki are back in town—as well as Oishi—and the redhead wants to be a human alarm clock. However, he doesn't take into account that Fuji just _isn't_ a morning person and ends up against the wall on the other side of the hall with a pillow in his face and Saeki standing somewhere near him shaking his head like he had just done something stupid. And he had, but he will never admit it.

* * *

Well this didn't take very long to come out. I had this sudden urge to do something other than homework, so… I decided to write. Hope you enjoyed!**

* * *

Reviews-**

**Ai-Kusabana-** The relationship between these two is still a bit shaky, but it's clearing up I hope. It'll be clearer in the next couple chapters, I promise.

I don't think I answered _where_ all those people you asked were, but now they're there and where they were will be discussed in the next chapter.

I'll think about the jealousy thing, I'm not really good with those, but I'll try my best!

Ah, the surprise. Well, they really weren't expecting to see him there—he did get kidnapped after all—so when they did it was a sort of pleasant surprise, thus the smiles.

Atobe's smirk, however, is still a mystery -insert big grin here-

**yoshikochan-** Yeah, I figured that they had to be friends. Otherwise I'd have a very hard time fitting them in the story lol.

It's all coming together. I get sidetracked really easily, so it's getting kinda tough, but it's getting to where I want it to.

Thank you for the reviews up 'til now—and yes a smirking Atobe is a _very_ good mental image.


	10. Neverending Dreams

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 10: _Never-ending Dreams_

Fuji shut and locked the door to his room, disgruntled, after throwing a pillow and muttering a few unenthusiastic swear words at Eiji—words that would have been said with that same fake smile that he always used had he not been half-asleep. He turned around abruptly and slowly walked to his bed and lay down… directly on top of a still-asleep Atobe. Atobe grunted at the impact; however Fuji could not find the energy to open his eyes, much less move his tired body. Eventually, Fuji found enough energy to roll over and then fell asleep almost as soon as his eyes closed.

* * *

Fuji likes dreams. Usually, he dreams of mountains of trees and lakes filled with fish. He dreams of the country and the city, of the land and the sky, and of the clouds and the ocean currents. However, Fuji has dreams that he doesn't like also. Like when he finds himself dreaming of his past. And when that time comes, he struggles and he claws at the blanket known as unconsciousness. He knows it's futile, but he continues to struggle, hoping that for once he'll wake up. Or perhaps, he wishes that he can curl up in a little corner and block out everything around him. Either way, eventually he forces himself to sit there. Because, really, what else _can_ he do?

He sits and watches it all flicker past: himself as a child, playing with his siblings; the man in the rain; hiding in the basement as his house was burned to the ground and his parents killed; the year-long search for his parents' murderers; finally avenging his parents; becoming vampires; and then searching for a place to live. He watches it all with a forced patience, one that he knows he cannot maintain for long. Yet he also knows that soon it will be over. But then when the time comes that his dream usually ends, he finds that he cannot wake up. Memories surge up within him and he dreams. He dreams of a past that he wishes he could control; a past that has so haunted him that he willingly blocks it out, sending it to the deepest parts of his mind; memories that he hides not only from others, but from himself, as well.

Memories he thought he had buried so deep that they would never resurface to haunt him run through his head. Sure, Fuji can handle everything bad that has happened to him, and that includes having to bear the memories, but Fuji cannot stand remembering the good times. There were his parents holding Yuuta as Fuji and Yumiko stared at the baby, mesmerized. There was his family, several years later, at the park where his parents were swinging them on the swings. There they were on a night just like the one his parents had been killed, huddled in Fuji 's bed while he stared out the window. There were the three siblings, finding a home for the first time with Sanada Genichirou. There was the fated meeting between Fuji and Atobe. And there, he saw himself flying high up in the sky, free from everything, soaring so high that he could see dragons flying through the skies.

Fuji turns away from all the memories—new ones and old. He turns away hoping that they will once more be buried so deep that they cannot come up again. So deep that he doesn't even have a tiny recollection of what they are about. He forces himself—clawing harder and harder—back into consciousness, only to find that Atobe is still asleep and that Eiji is still knocking on the door and yelling about how Fuji "had better open this door" and if he doesn't he will "pay dearly…nya!" Fuji blinks and gets up to open the door.

* * *

Several hours later, everyone was awake and the world was back to how it should have been: an always-smiling Fuji, a no-longer-childish Atobe, a still-pouting Eiji, a softly-smiling Saeki, a stoic Tezuka, a smirking Echizen, a glaring Yuuta, and a smiling Yumiko. Of course the Hyotei team was also there, up to their normal antics: Gakuto was standing near Eiji, shouting something about an acrobatic competition and gloating about a new move that he had just made up; Yuushi was trying hard not to laugh at the antics of his partner—although no one could tell that laughter was bubbling just below the surface; Atobe was going on and on about how great he was, using the word "ore-sama" more times in one sentence than there are stars in the sky; Kabaji was hanging on Atobe's every word, saying an occasional "usu" when prodded; Jirou was sleeping on the other couch, so everyone else in the team was forced to share one; Shishido looked angry for some reason—although he almost always looked angry—and everyone was edging to the other side of the couch because of it, well… everyone except Ootori, who, instead of scooting farther away, did the exact opposite; and Hiyoshi was grouching about how he "_will_ beat Echizen" the next time they played shougi—or was it go?

The atmosphere in the room was light and free-spirited. Some talked to the people around them, while others listened, silently observing. The bell at the door rang. Atobe sighed, looking annoyed, and called one of the servants to open the door because "ore-sama" shouldn't have to open any doors for himself, let alone anyone else. This prompted the ordinary reaction from everyone else: Gakuto and Yuushi looked at each other before they both looked away, trying hard not to roll their eyes; Shishido threw caution to the wind and _did_ roll his eyes; Ootori tried hard to block Atobe's view of his senpai, hoping that he had not seen the eye roll; Kabaji sat straight as usual, without saying a word; Hiyoshi snorted and looked away, uncaring of the consequences; Jirou was still sleeping on the other couch—of course—but he managed to get a disgruntled snore out before rolling over again; Fuji's smile widened a bit and his eyes opened briefly before snapping closed again; Eiji let out a muffled snort and keened out a loud "nya" and something about wishing that Oishi were there; Saeki looked embarrassed _for_ Atobe; Tezuka was still the same ice block as usual, although his eyes seemed to sparkle in amusement—although that _could_ have been the lighting; Echizen's small smirk grew into a full-blown one; Yuuta looked away, rolling his eyes at the "stupidity of the entire group" and how "this place screws everyone up in the head"; and, although Yumiko's smile was a little less happy and a little more amused than it usually was, she still did her best to make her brother's behavior less noticeable—to Atobe at least. Meanwhile, the butler was on his way to the door.

The door opened to see 9 others, all vampires. Eiji squeaked and ran up to one of them, giving them a choking hug, crying "Oishi, Oishi, Oishi!" all the way while the others in the room rolled their eyes and attempted to hold in their laughter at the traumatized looks the other 8 were giving what looked to them like a cat on crack—or perhaps the energizer bunny dressed as a cat—pouncing on a used-to-it Oishi. Sanada Genichirou let out a sigh and pushed past the poor victim—err… friend that Eiji had chosen to hug the life out of and gave those seated on the couch a curious glance before moving to shake hands with Atobe, who stood and "grandly" invited them into "ore-sama's beautiful manor" as he gestured imperially around. Sanada looked unaffected and turned to give the others a glare for remaining frozen in the doorway.

Niou ignored the glare and promptly breezed into the room like he owned the place, plopping down onto the ground near the fireplace (that was crackling rather menacingly—uh…cheerfully in the grate) warming up his fingers and toes, randomly going on a tangent about how cold it was outside and how unfair it was for them to have to walk all the way from the carriage, all "20 steps darn it, and it was _cold_." Yagyuu pushed up his glasses as he was apt to do and went to prod his partner in the back with his boot (earning a indignant huff and a "you got my jacket wet!") and smirked mischievously as he joined his partner sitting on the ground, although with quite a bit more grace and poise.

Marui blew a giant red bubble and strolled into the room with as little grace as Niou and perched atop the armrest of Jirou's couch, all the while loudly asking/proclaiming, "Dou? Yappari tensai teki?" as he balanced there. Jackal sighed and shook his head moving to stand next to his partner holding a square box that looked suspiciously like a cake box. Of course, as soon as he had he wished he hadn't… being on the receiving end of a Jirou glomp was bad enough but being on the receiving end of Marui falling into you because of a Jirou glomp was even worse, not to mention a lot more painful. It seemed all it took to wake up the sleeping Jirou were a few lines of egotistical banter and proclaiming yourself a genius… who knew? Oh wait, never mind. He was still asleep…

Meanwhile, Oishi had made himself as comfortable as he could with Eiji still hanging from his torso, all the while listening (was he?) to Eiji bantering on and on about how Fuji had been "_so_ mean this morning… he hit me with a pillow" when he "tried to be nice and wake him up." Fuji's smile got a little creepier and Eiji yelped and scuttled behind Oishi for cover, stammering words no one could catch.

Kirihara made his way into the room, pulling on Yanagi's sleeve, complaining about this or that… and something that sounded like "flying purple monkeys" as Yanagi sighed and shook his head at his foolishness. He looked around at the others, standing or sitting in various positions and his eye caught on the cake box that Jackal had been carrying. Jackal had managed to save the box ("Cake! Cake! Cake!" Looks like Jirou was awake) but was squashed under a hyper Jirou and a struggling Marui. Yanagi sighed and pushed his way to them, pulling Jirou up and watching Marui jump up from his previous position where he was crushing his partner. Jackal slowly got to his feet, looked around, and went to go stand somewhere safe, namely, next to Sanada.

Inui entered the room with his notebook at the ready, glasses glinting as per usual. He muttered an, "Ii data," and scribbled something down as the rest sweatdropped and continued to do whatever they were doing.

Deciding that the silence was awkward, and since Atobe wasn't doing anything, Sanada commanded a roll call.

"Yo! I'm Niou Masaharu. I'm the attack specialist."

"Hello," insert glasses push up here, "I'm Yagyuu Hiroshi. I'm also an attack specialist. Niou's partner. Nice to meet you."

"Hey! I'm Marui Bunta and I'm the," insert bubble blow here, "volley specialist, which means I get to handle weapons. And I'm a complete genius!"

"I'm Jackal Kuwahara, Marui's partner. I'm the defense specialist."

"Yo! I'm Kirihara Akaya. I'm the junior ace!" Momentary pause. "Akaya…" "Hai, hai. I'm the strategist."

"Yanagi Renji. I work with Akaya and oversee him. I'm the Master of the Guard, as well."

"Sanada Genichirou. I'm the stand-in leader."

"Inui Sadaharu. Fuji family's tactician," he paused to look around at the various reactions and mumbled, "Ii data," once more before whipping out his notebook and scribbling something down.

"Of course, everyone knows ore-sama. Atobe Keigo. Ore-sama owns thousands of acres of land and presides over this land."

"I'm Mukahi Gakuto. I lead the army—Duel me Kikumaru!"

A sigh. "I'm Oshitari Yuushi. I'm Gakuto's partner. I'm the sorcerer."

"Shishido Ryou. Attack specialist."

"I'm Ootori Chotarou," insert smile here, "I'm the secretary. I work with Shishido-sempai."

"Kabaji Munehiro, usu. Muscle, usu." "He's ore-sama's right hand man"

"Hiyoshi Wakashi. I'm the Master of the Guard." He added, "Gekokujou."

"I'm Akutagawa Jirou!" insert yawn here, "I plan battles and I like to sleep!"

"Fuji Syuusuke. Saa… I'm in charge of the negotiations between humans and vampires. And I handle the right flank of the army."

"I'm Kikumaru Eiji! I'm the Vice-captain of the Guard. I work with Oishi!"

"Oishi Shuichiro. I'm the Captain of the Guard. And, yes, I work with Eiji."

"Saeki Kojiro. I'm part of Rokakuchuu. I handle the politics."

"Tezuka Kunimitsu. Leader of the human army."

"Echizen Ryoma. I guard Tezuka-buchou."

"Fuji Yuuta. I'm a strategist. I handle the left flank of the army."

"Fuji Yumiko. I keep my brothers in line and handle the provisions."

"Now that the introductions have been made… let us enjoy the dinner that has been prepared." And off they went to eat dinner and talk politics. Fuji was _sure_ it was going to be boring as hell. But who could tell? After all, he _was_ sitting between Echizen and Tezuka.

**

* * *

Yoshikochan**- you're very welcome. Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. Junior year is really getting to me. I didn't think it'd be this hard… Anyway, yes, they were past lovers (and hopefully a cause for jealousy while I'm at it). Everyone introduced is a vampire except for Tezuka and Echizen. I feel so bad; I had to split up the Seigaku team… Your review is very much appreciated! 

**Ai-Kusabana- **No problem, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Nice guess! I tried to get that in as much as I could… but I wasn't sure if I succeeded. Not the last two. The two years he spent with Atobe 50 years before were the best years of his life. Well, no one really knew. Fuji's not really a morning person, so they all tried to stay away from him, with the exception of Eiji. But Fuji really kicked Eiji's butt (with a pillow!) so even Eiji gave up. Jealousy… will probably come in the next chapter. Or the one after that… I'm not sure how long I'm even going to make this story. I guess all will be revealed in due time. Thanks for reviewing!

**Moonlight-sama-** Thank you! I'm working on that as I type. Eh… that didn't sound as good as it did in my head. I'm glad you do… although it's a past thing, I was thinking of putting a little more in it (AtoFuji, I mean). But maybe I shouldn't. Thank you for the review!

**Abhorsen3**- I'm glad you're enjoying it! Well, it's TezuFujiRyo so they'll kind of all go together… And yes, Atobe and Fuji were together 50 years before. I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I've been so busy I don't have much time to sleep let alone write. Ah, well I never mentioned who kidnapped Fuji, but that will be mentioned in the next chapter when they get down to talking about politics and… stuff. I never mentioned the one who loved him most either. That's going to be revealed sometime in the future. But it couldn't be Yuuta because Yuuta doesn't physically come into the story until a later chapter. I'll do that. Thank you for reviewing!


	11. Politically Mistaken

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 11: _Politically Mistaken_

As it turned out, Fuji was more than just right. Dinner was as it usually was, with interesting conversations cruising around the table; although Fuji was sure he could have done without all of the loud, "Nya"s and "I challenge you, Kikumaru!"s. Of course, an evening as fine as the one he was having was sure to have a downside (cutting out the banter between Eiji and Gakuto) and it reared its head almost instantly after the servants cleared the remains of the oh-so-scrumptious vanilla cake the group had managed to scarf down.

Politics. Fuji was sure that if he could, he would "cut out its tongue, shoot it, and then shoot its tongue" but sadly, the idea of politics is just that: an idea. And no matter how hard you try, an idea will stay an idea until it's given an embodiment. So who could he scapegoat? Nah, scratch that. Who could he kill so that politics would disappear from his life so he didn't have to wish he could crawl into a dark little corner and plug his ears, humming a tune that he made up on the spot to make the sound go away? The answer was simple. The answer was depressing. The answer was… no one.

Sure, even if he tried to pay attention it didn't work. He'd get sidetracked by some funny little event that happened and then snap back to the conversation a good few minutes later, not knowing what anyone was talking about anymore. Today was even more distracting… and only because two very-human life forms happened to be sitting next to him, annoying the crap out of him. Sure, they didn't actually _know_ they were irritating him (did they? Fuji glanced at them surreptitiously), but that wasn't helping him. Every few minutes one of two things would happen: Tezuka would shift in his seat a bit or gesture as he talked… or Echizen would start fidgeting until Tezuka would look over at him, over Fuji's head (which was really irritating!) and give him a withering glare. Occasionally, both happened at once.

And throughout the entire meeting, all Fuji was able to catch were a few sentences and a whole lot of fragments.

"Ore-sama now calls this meeting to—" Obviously Atobe. Automatically, Fuji tuned him out.

"Yes, but the werewolves—" Sanada.

"They would never expect—" Tezuka.

"This alliance can't—" Yagyuu? Ah, no. Oshitari. Fuji took a moment… how had he confused the two? It was the glasses, the stupid glasses!

"And the ones who kidnapped Syuusuke… who were they?" At this point, Fuji snapped to attention. His sister asking a question was a rare occurrence. And he was curious. Hell, curiosity may have killed the cat, but Fuji was no cat. He thought a moment… poor Eiji.

Atobe paused for dramatic effect. Oshitari sighed and cut him off before he could say a single word, " It was a rogue branch of the human army" that explained the human voices, "Fortunately we didn't kill anyone when we entered the camp." He paused, "You didn't kill anyone, did you Gakuto?" Gakuto chuckled nervously, "Only a couple… you said to make a commotion." Oshitari sighed and continued on, "Fortunately we didn't kill that many when we entered the camp," here he inserted a glare in Gakuto's direction, "and we were able to rescue Fuji without much delay."

Atobe glared at Oshitari for interrupting him, but the damage was done. There was mumbling across the table and Echizen started fidgeting again. And that's all it took to capture Fuji's attention. Yeah, that's right. Fuji had the attention span of a mouse. And a mouse's attention span is almost nonexistent. Like a high school student sitting in class, fiddling with his pencil and staring out the window, Fuji had no intention of paying attention and had every intention of beating answers out of someone, politely of course, when he had the chance to. And it'd have to be soon too. He'd gone one week without knowing anything once and it had driven him absolutely _insane_.

Nearly an hour and exactly 251 distractions later (not counting the "lets poke Yagyuu" game which Niou played continuously), Fuji was nearly falling asleep. The only thing that kept him awake was an occasional jab in the stomach courtesy of Echizen. It completely brightened his day, knowing that he'd have a gi-normous bruise in the morning.

By the time the meeting was over Fuji wasn't able to feel his stomach and his ribs ached something terrible, but he endured at the thought of sleep, a nice warm bed, and, hopefully but unlikely, a full night of sleep—one without interruptions. Alas, he was so impatient for that dreamtime that as soon as Atobe had finished his speech ending the meeting, he was gliding out the door—the first one to leave.

He expected someone to follow him, but the trip to his room was uneventful. No one came up behind him and started jabbering on and on while he half-listened and no one walked with him. No one paid him any attention whatsoever, in fact, which suited him just fine. He made it to his room quickly and decided on a nice long bath before going to bed. So he made his way to the bathtub and turned the water on, putting in the bath salts left out for him—cherry blossom scented again?!—and waited for the bathtub to fill. He took a good long look at it. Was his bathtub really that big? He paused for a moment. Nah, ½ day updates weren't Atobe's style. He preferred grandiose to inconspicuous. Eh, whatever.

He took his bath, mulling over every possibility of what was said ("_note to self: knock answers out of someone soon_") before finally giving in and relaxing. Taking his time, he waited until the water started to cool and then got out and went into his room.

"Echizen… what are you doing in my room?"

Blink. "What are you talking about? This is _my_ room."

Pause. "That's beside the point."

"What?"

Longer pause. "Why do you have a bigger bathtub than I do?"

"That's the first thing you thought of?"

"Well it is the most obvious. Ah, and you've got a desk! The next time I see that Atobe…"

Echizen tried to contain his laughter, he really did, it's just that watching an annoyed/pissed off Fuji walking around cursing Atobe and complaining about his room clad only in a towel was an extremely amusing scene. And so the giggles—ahem, the chuckles commenced.

Fuji froze and then turned around slowly, glaring at Echizen who was trying _really_ hard to restrain his laughter, to no avail. He took a moment and then looked down, only then realizing he wasn't in what you would call "proper" attire.

There was a pause, broken intermittently with outbreaks of laughter, and then Fuji finally managed to get out a rather hoarse sounding, "Do you have any clothing I could… borrow?" which just set Echizen into another laughing fit. Scowling, Fuji walked over and smacked Echizen upside the head, muttering about "little boys" and "purple-haired blockheads."

Echizen stopped laughing almost immediately in favor of nursing his head and pouting. Fuji rolled his eyes and then strolled toward Echizen's closet, intent on finding something to wear, with a sulking Echizen trailing behind. And that's when Fuji decided that he hated short people. Why, why, why, why, why did Echizen have to be so small? Stupid chibi. The pants in the closet were three or four sizes too small for him; the shirts probably wouldn't fit him either. Was he cursed? Fuji could _swear_ he was cursed. And he didn't want to take the blame for it, either. Atobe! It was all Atobe's fault. Why did he have to have such a _huge_ castle for a home?

Echizen was still sulking, but he began to help out once Fuji sent him a rather deadly glare. And at that very moment, there was a knock at the door.

* * *

Well, there it is. I was actually planning on posting it last week, but my computer was being weird and wouldn't stay on for more than 10 minutes at a time. Then this past week was finals so I had to study—actually… I didn't do much of that, but don't tell my parents. So yeah, that's the scoop.

**MidnightSunrise951**- Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I'm sorry that chapter wouldn't come up, I hope you've gotten it to work by now… I didn't do anything different when entering it or anything, so I don't think it's that. Well, you know how meetings and stuff are really boring, and we haven't really gotten to the front line, so I can't put all the action in yet. Now the werewolves are a different story altogether. You'll find out who they are when I get to them (I'm not sure how long that'll be from this chapter, but I think it's fairly close). That's the big mystery. Thank you for reading and for the review!

**Yoshikochan**- Haha, yeah. I'm really sorry about the 11 month wait. I had no intention of making anyone wait that long. Actually, I thought I'd updated in August, but that turns out to be my other story. Eh… yeah. My bad. Actually, I think next year will be a lot harder. I'm going to be in a ton of AP classes (which is a pain) and this year I'm only in two. It's not that difficult really, it's just the sheer amount of homework is staggering.

Well I'm glad you like the character arrangement. I went "Hm… what would be the most random thing this person could be?" And then went with it. Haha, just kidding, just kidding. I actually gave it some thought, but some of them were really hard to get in. Thank you very much, I'll continue to write and hopefully have the next one up in another week or two. Thanks for reviewing!

**PheonixShadow**- Thank you! I guess the best time for inspiration is during class, after all—though not the kind of inspiration a teacher means. I came up with this during English class freshmen year, I think. It's been a while since I've written (and that's the whole writer's block and homework load thing) but I'm going to continue it and eventually finish it. Well, everyone's got their tastes (personally, I don't like AtoFuji much either, but it makes the story that much more interesting) and I don't blame you if you don't like something. Thank you very much for the review!

**thyPOPE**- Well, I haven't really updated it in a while, so that's probably why. In fact, I'd say it was somewhere near the end of the search pages for a while there. Thank you! I'm glad you like it. Not many people like this pace, but I think it suits some stories. Other stories are better written at a quicker pace, but for a war story, and especially a story that I've written, is better off at a slow pace. My fast-paced stories aren't all that great. I'm sorry but it looks like you really won't have to wait all that long. Haha, anyway… thank you for reviewing!


	12. Awkward Silence

**Circular Reality**

Chapter 12: _Awkward Silence_

Fuji cursed. Who the _hell_ would visit anyone at—he glanced at the clock—8 o'clock? Wait… 8? It was still only 8?? _Oh, holy __**hell**_. He could've sworn it was much later than that. Politics-talk usually lasted longer than this, what with the talk about provisions and the talk about alliances and the talk of God only knows what else; Fuji hadn't paid attention, after all. Fuji was practically freaking out. It was only 8 and Echizen didn't have any proper clothing so he could make it to his room without running the risk of having someone see him.

_My world just ended._ Fuji was aware that he was almost insanely pessimistic and he was also aware that he was getting increasingly paranoid (not to mention drama-queen-esque). What he didn't seem to remember was the fact that there was someone at the door and Echizen was moving to open it. In fact, he was almost halfway to the door when Fuji realized what was happening and began to freak out once more.

Echizen Ryoma noticed all of this as he calmly walked toward the door. He refrained from laughing when Fuji sharply turned to the clock resting on his nightstand and looked away only to snap back, as if to check if he was seeing things, but he almost let a few chuckles out when Fuji's face paled to so incredible a shade of white that Ryoma thought he was about to pass out and then looked around in a panic, presumably searching for an escape.

Fuji Syuusuke was just about to start jumping on one foot and running in circles—or better yet, jumping on one foot in circles—when Echizen turned around and pointed at him, then the closet, and then him again. Fuji got the hint and bolted through the closet doors, switching off the light and closing the door slowly and softly as he went, and slipping behind a rack of clothing simply to repress his growing paranoia. What seemed like only seconds later, he heard Echizen opening the door and, although he didn't hear the exact words that were exchanged (were these walls soundproof or something? Fuji pondered), managed to hear who was speaking and the expressions… well, expressed.

One was obviously Echizen and the other was clearly Atobe, but what Atobe would want to talk to Echizen about at 8 at night was a mystery to Fuji and he wouldn't know until he could get out of the closet and drag it out of the boy. When the voices stopped and he heard the door close, Fuji was tempted to leave the closet. He didn't, however, because he knew that sometimes Atobe liked to trespass within other people's domains—namely, their rooms. When he was 100 percent sure that Atobe was not in the room, based solely on his sense of hearing, he casually opened the door and came out of the closet (pun unintended).

Echizen had managed to get rid of Atobe in a surprisingly short period of time, Fuji mused, for the only one currently in the room was Echizen Ryoma himself and—just _what_ was he laughing at?—he was clearly enjoying either an inside joke or laughing at Fuji's expense. Since the former was most unlikely to occur, Fuji guessed the latter and placed his hands on his hips, glaring at the guard.

Echizen wasn't sure whether or not he could stop laughing, but since the look Fuji was giving him was frightening—actually bordering on _insanely_ frighteningly horrifyingly stupendously murderously angry—he made a huge effort to quell the laughter that was bubbling up within him and managed, after a few seconds (seconds that felt like minutes, Fuji rolled his eyes), to do so.

Without saying a word, Echizen turned around and made a beeline for the set of drawers on the other side of his bed. There, he opened the top drawer and pulled out a shirt that looked several sizes too big for him—and completely not his style, Fuji noticed—and a pair of pants that seemed nearly a foot too long for him. Fuji scowled, if he had known he had those clothes there, why hadn't he said anything earlier? But Fuji's mind quickly made a u-turn in its thoughts. Why would Echizen own a pair of clothes that unquestionably belonged to someone else? Whose were they?

Skeptical, Fuji gave Echizen a long stare before curiosity finally got the better of him.

"Those are…?"

Fuji had to give Echizen credit. He only _almost_ faltered. But, seemingly without a care, he replied.

"Hi-mi-tsu."

Fuji crossed his arms, "I'm not wearing them unless you tell me whose they are."

Echizen shrugged and put the clothing on top of the set of drawers he had just taken them out of, "Suit yourself. If you want to parade around half-naked then be my guest, but I will not take any blame later on if someone comes in to see you and assumes the worst."

Fuji scowled and then looked pensive, "Who would come in without knocking?"

And there it was. The blush. They were far away from each other and the blush was light, but Fuji was a vampire and vampires had super-sight, super-hearing, super-everything, really. Then Echizen cleared his throat and the blush disappeared to be replaced by a calm face that Fuji was sure was a façade—Syuusuke was the master of façades after all… _no_, not the master of disguise.

"No one."

Fuji looked unbelievingly at the boy before turning his attention back to the clothing, "Uh-huh."

"You don't believe me."

"Of course I don't believe you. I'm sure you wouldn't believe you if you were me either."

Echizen sighed, "Probably not. You could probably guess if you put your mind to it. It's not that hard to figure out." As he said this, he had started walking toward his bathroom.

Fuji thought about it for a minute before it finally clicked. _Damn_ was he slow (stupid politics! Fuji cursed, deciding that politics were at fault for everything that went wrong), it was so completely obvious that even Eiji would've gotten it… or maybe not. He snapped out of his pensive mood when he heard the door opening and, fearing that Echizen was off to tell someone that Fuji was half-naked in his room, he spun around to see the boy—man, really, but Fuji could not bring himself to call him a man… he was so small!—retreating into the bathroom.

Fuji gazed around almost stupidly, wondering what he should do now. He was sure he didn't want to make himself comfortable; the only comfortable-looking piece of furniture in the room was the bed. So Fuji walked almost mechanically toward the dresser where he picked up the clothes and stared at them for a full minute.

"You could put them on instead of staring at them," a new voice interjected, "They are more useful that way."

Fuji froze and then inched his gaze around to see a half-open door and—take a deep breath, Syuusuke, a deep breath—Tezuka Kunimitsu standing halfway in the room. Fuji could have groaned. He could also have run around the room screeching profanities for all the world to hear, but he did neither, for they would be extremely out of character, and instead continued to stare at the infamous leader of the human army.

As Tezuka made his way into the room, closing the door behind him, Fuji began to panic. Again. He heard the lock click shut and almost died on the spot, but he managed to keep some semblance of sanity within him as he freaked out and his smiling mask remained in place.

The leader of the human army turned around and gave Fuji a cursory glance before moving toward the bathroom door and knocking on it quietly. They both heard a soft, "Be out in a sec," and Tezuka turned and walked to the bed, where he sat down, crossed his legs regally, and began to stare at a still-frozen Fuji once more. His eyes glinted with amusement—was that the lighting _again_?—and he glanced pointedly at the clothing that Fuji still clutched in his arms.

Fuji Syuusuke had almost never been in such a predicament before. Almost being the key word. He could count the number of times he'd felt this embarrassed, this… _exposed_, on one hand and it certainly wasn't the greatest feeling in the world to be getting closer and closer to having to use that second hand. Sighing, he snapped out of his frozen state and glanced down at the clothing he was holding on to, now thoroughly crumpled, and then at the leader that sat in front of him and…was he checking him out? Awkward…

So, trying to resolve the awkwardness of the silence that had enveloped the two, Fuji moved around to the other side of the room where the walk-in closet was (another thing he had to talk to Atobe about when he had the chance) and shut the door behind him, turning his back to the door and changing into the clothing that he still hadn't managed to un-crumple. On the way to getting dressed, he discovered, there were two problems.

Problem number one: Echizen had not deigned to pull out any underwear for him. Now this was a problem indeed, for Fuji never went commando, it just wasn't his style. It was only a dilemma because that meant he had to go back into that room and face the awkward silence that he knew would settle as soon as he took one step out the door. Now, he spent several moments thinking about this and before he had any more time to think of what to do, he heard a noise from behind him and found that the door was open.

So problem number two arose. Not only was Tezuka standing in front of the open door, but in front of him, holding the knob, was a smirking Echizen Ryoma. Dilemma, dilemma.

Fuji Syuusuke, for the second time that _day_, felt like dying. He had frozen up more times today than he had in the last 50 years and he wasn't sure how much more of this his body—not to mention his mind—could take before he went truly and utterly insane. He was sure it would only take a few more freeze ups and a few more mind-scarring moments to achieve the task, but he didn't want to push his luck. He had to keep in mind that he'd live much, _much_ longer and he'd have to deal with the mind-scarring issues throughout that time.

So Fuji, being the genius that he was, froze up again. Echizen's smirk had turned full-blown and Tezuka—it wasn't the lighting dammit!—was clearly amused. Fuji's stomach churned and what felt like a good many butterflies were fluttering around in his stomach. And they weren't normal butterflies either, it felt like they had tiny pins connected to their wings and every time they butted up against the walls of his stomach (now that he thought about it, that area was his intestines) he felt like he was going to throw up. That would have been even more awkward and so he refrained from doing so.

Fuji came out of his frozen, almost coma-esque daze and found that Echizen was moving toward him, almost like a predator closing in on its prey. So Fuji did what any intelligent person would do, he backed up. He backed up so far, in fact, that he found himself against the back wall with nowhere to go. And then he noticed that Tezuka was also advancing and felt trapped. Echizen from the right and Tezuka from the left. The two were a daunting sight as they advanced towards him. He wished the ground would open and swallow him. Hell would surely be better than this; that depended on the Hell though. If it were Dante's system, then it would be better than his current situation, but if one chose their own Hell… well, Fuji's Hell would be Hell-ier than Hell. And that was just… Hell.

A hand on his cheek forced him to snap out of his thoughts. Echizen on his right, Tezuka on his left, a hand on his cheek. Awkward just went a level deeper than awkward. Awkward-er than awkward? Eh, that's awkward.

And all of a sudden, he was being kissed. He didn't know which one was doing it, he was still frozen—his eyes were _not_ closed!—and he continued to stare ahead into space, shocked. If he were anyone else, or if he were looking down on the situation from above, he would've laughed, but as he wasn't, he felt like he was going to go insane.

And then he was back up for air, just like that. From his right came a low chuckle and he could almost _feel_ Echizen smirking against the side of his face. On his left, somewhere extremely close to his ear, he heard, "You liked that didn't you?"

He blushed scarlet and then his face went pale as he felt a hand trail up his shirt and a pair of lips at his neck. This was getting out of hand. It was more than he asked for… but _God_ it felt good. He hadn't felt like this for 50 years. No, he hadn't ever felt like _this_ before. With Atobe it was a painful pleasure—Atobe, despite his drama queen acts, was a sadist, born and bred (Fuji briefly thought of dominatrix but laughed it off), which had to mean that he was a masochist (whatever, Fuji shrugged)—but this… _this_ was the sweetest pleasure he had ever before experienced.

And as the "session" began to get more and more intense, Fuji felt that this was right. Nevermind that they were humans, nevermind they would die a lot sooner than he would, nevermind that he had never really touched a human before. Fuji felt this was right and what Fuji felt was right, was right.

* * *

I made an effort to make this chapter the longest of them all. It is currently a good 2355 words (which took a lot of effort… especially at 10 at night). As it's the longest chapter of this series so far, I'm extremely proud of it. Except the ending. Haha, nothing's perfect though, so I suppose I shouldn't fret. More action in the next one!

**Sweet Obsidian Rain**- Ah, thank you very much! I'm glad you like how he's portrayed. I wasn't sure if that many people would agree with this kind of Fuji. I suppose I shouldn't be saying this about my own fic, but he's a little… kooky. Well I'm glad you like that flirting, cuz you just got a whole lot more, lol. I'm glad you liked his little escapade, I thought it'd be a fun twist to have him walk into the wrong room when he's been at Atobe's castle so many times he even remembered the number of steps it took him to get where he was going. Thanks for the review!!

**MidnightSunrise951**- Thanks! My computer's still not better (poor, poor computer) so I'm writing this on another one—which explains why I'm up when I think I should have been long asleep (I love sleep… so I try to get as much as possible)—but I did well on my tests. Managed to keep all my grades where they were too… I just wish my English teacher would've put more points behind the final (I got an A on it too!). Anyway, (sorry for rambling) I'll make sure to put the battle in there somewhere, I promise. But that'll probably be later in the story (sorry!) because I have a plan for that… I think. I'm glad you got to read the 5th chapter. Heck, I'm happy people are reading this. Ah… well the meeting doesn't go too well for Fuji, so I'll put the details in later. The werewolves will probably be inserted somewhere in the next chapter. And I agree with you. Politics are evil. Thanks for the review! I like constructive criticism, but praise makes me really happy!

**2bloody2love**- Well I'm glad I got a review! And from someone who doesn't give reviews like this, it makes me very happy. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. School's kinda at a standstill right now. Thanks for the review, in any case!

**thyPOPE**- I'm glad you think it's funny. My attempts at humor are sometimes… really lamely sad. Thank you! I try to keep the interest going, but sometimes it just doesn't work. Well, I'm hoping I don't have to keep you waiting too long anymore. I'd willingly take a break from school to write. They were alerted that Fuji was going to be there, by the way… but it's not hard to tell that Fuji's a vampire. He has his teeth (I love pointy teeth) and this way of carrying himself. Echizen was just really good at putting things together. Thanks for the review! I love to hear people's opinions on what they think is going to happen or what happened. It just makes writing more fun.

**yoshikochan**- Thank you! Free time… is really hard to come by. Well, enough free time, at least. I don't usually do homework until late at night (I'm a procrastinator at heart) so I usually have time to do whatever I want, but just doing homework is annoying and the time before I have to do it just speeds past. I'm sure you'll love this chapter. Well… loved, now. Thanks for the review! I like to keep people laughing if I can (since I'm a very boring person in real life it's a lot more fun to be someone I'm not usually online).


	13. The Origin of the Unlucky

**Circular Reality**

_Chapter 13_: The Origin of the Unlucky

Fuji was sure he was cursed. Why else would his life continually take turns for the worst? He didn't know what he had done to make the gods (God?) above him hate him so much, but he was sure if he were given half the chance to make things better, he'd snatch at it with both hands and never let go, no matter the obstacles in his way. Was a little break from the cycle of bad luck too much to ask for? Was it unreasonable?

Fuji groaned as he stood from the bed. Last night had been intense and he still wasn't sure what the heck he'd been doing, but he was sure that, by now, everyone in the palace knew about his rather eventful night. You know what they say, "Gossip spreads faster the bigger the place,"—or some such thing. Now that Fuji thought about it, though, there was no saying like that, so he decided he didn't care and was officially coining the phrase.

A hand reached out from the bed and grabbed his own and he was down for the count once again, wondering what he had done to deserve such a fate. He had been dominated by humans. _Humans._ He was sure there was something fundamentally wrong with that. Sighing, he thought that maybe he should just turn them into vampires, but then thought better of it when he remembered they were in the middle of the war and they needed a strong human leader that was willing to ally with them against the growing threat of the werewolves. He could not count out the fact that if Tezuka were to become one of the undead, the humans would probably no longer be enamored with the idea of following him and the rebels would take over and they'd start the whole "Ally with me" problem once again—and this time they'd most likely be unsuccessful.

So he lay there, spooned between two toned bodies, wondering when Eiji would come in and ruin the moment with a loud "Nya!" Of course, this never happened—the door was still locked—but Fuji knew something would go wrong eventually. And were they _still_ asleep? Humans sure liked to sleep. Fuji could get by on nearly 4 hours of sleep a day, if he tried, and still make it through perfectly fine, but humans… they just _had_ to sleep a full 8-10 hours.

A good 10-20 minutes later, both the leader of the human army and his guard were awake, but seemed reluctant to leave the warm bed that was still too big for them, even with three people in it (Fuji noted later on that the beds were not king sized… they were _ultra_-king sized. (Said so on the label)). By this time, Fuji was having trouble staying still, fidgeting while he lay there and examining his surroundings. He hadn't even noticed that the humans were awake.

Echizen smirked across at Tezuka and they both renewed their attack on Fuji with a ferocity that would've scared bunnies… not that it takes much to scare bunnies. Fuji let out a disgruntled sound that was quickly muffled with the addition of a pair of lips over his own and decided to give in once more. Who knew that he had this useless submissive streak in him? _Stupid_ politics.

Nearly two hours and three bouts of… ahem bouts later, Fuji was finally allowed to leave the bed to get ready. And thus the dilemma began again. He still had no clothing. Resigning himself, he made to put on Tezuka's clothes before realizing that he was being stared at rather… lustfully. He edged away from the bed and made his way into the bathroom where he quickly locked the door and leaned against it. There, he drew a bath for himself and soaked for nearly half an hour before getting out and facing the clothes before him in a determined fashion.

After putting on the clothing presented to him, he made his way into the room, noting that Tezuka was no longer there. Echizen was, however, and he smirked cockily at Fuji before brushing past him and making his way into the bathroom. Fuji rolled his eyes and looked around the room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything before he took yesterday's clothes and tucked them under his arm as he strode toward the door.

Once there, he took a deep breath, opened the door a crack and looked outside. When he deemed there was nobody directly in front of the door, he poked his head out and looked both ways. No one there. _Good_. Finally, something was going his way. He dashed across the hall and made it safely to his room, pretty sure that no one had seen him, and changed clothes almost immediately.

When he was properly dressed, Fuji thought about paying Atobe a little visit, but decided that he couldn't say anything about having a smaller bathtub (and closet…) than Echizen without giving away a secret he was hard-pressed to _keep_ a secret. So instead he decided to get some breakfast.

Trudging to the kitchen closest to his room, he made his way to the refrigerator, since the cooks weren't around, and made himself something to eat. By the time the food was ready, he was no longer alone. Echizen had joined him in the kitchen and was now sitting on the counter and staring at him. Annoyed, Fuji looked over at him, about to snap, before he noticed that Tezuka was also there. He kept his mouth shut and sat down to eat his meal.

Acquiescence, Fuji mused as he sat there slowly eating his food, was surely an overrated, not to mention completely useless, act. He could almost _feel_ the stares of the two as they bore torturously slow metaphorical holes in his body; he almost blushed, _almost_, when he noticed which _part_ of his body these holes were being beamed to. And then, suddenly, there was a flurry of action as both guard and leader moved… almost as though to seem as if they were doing something. Fuji saw why seconds later as Eiji flounced in followed by an exhausted-looking Oishi. Despite his problems (or maybe because of them?), Fuji was tempted to laugh at such a mundane spectacle.

The only problem was… how had he not noticed them? Deciding that he would puzzle this out later on, he almost literally inhaled the rest of his food, surprisingly with all the manners of a polite guest, and guzzled down his drink just as quickly before he mentally slapped on his fake metaphorical mask and slipped out the door, waving absently as he did so.

While Echizen was able to slip after him, Tezuka was forced to remain and exchange a few polite words with Oishi as they both warily eyed the way Eiji was quite literally bouncing off the walls with the ease of hours of practice (so _this_ is what Eiji did for a living, Tezuka shook his head—stray thoughts were not welcome at the moment), after which he walked calmly out of the room to find the other two.

Fuji was almost desperate. They were _following_ him. He couldn't get them to leave him alone, even for a moment. And just when he thought he'd gotten away, he'd turn a corner and one of them would be _right there_. Fuji was dangerously close to going insane; surely this wasn't healthy for his sanity…

He now knew what it was liked to be stalked and, frankly, he wasn't liking it. Not even one bit. Not even a smidge. Not even in Fuji-Hell™. He paused to think by one of the many cinemas in the house, peering in for good measure—this… was one of the smaller ones right? Why was it nearly 30' by 30'? What was _wrong_ with this place?—and decided that it would be in his interest to hide under the theater seats until they left him alone. Or just gave up looking for him.

So he snuck into the movie theater—not very hard, mind you, movie theaters _are_ known for their darkness—and crawled under a row of seats, close enough that he could clearly see the doorway and far enough that he wouldn't be seen.

Several times in the next half hour he was close to the Freaking Out Point™ but he managed, through sheer force of will, to keep some semblance of sanity about him as he watched Echizen pass for what might have been the millionth and first time. As the now-confused guard passed, Fuji let out a quiet long-suffering sigh, praising all the gods that he knew of in succession and even going so far as to thank the devil himself.

But when a voice sounded behind him, Fuji knew that the fates were against him (_**"Stupid **_politics!" said one voice in Fuji's head as another muttered a, "Hey, Hercules!" simultaneously). Shaking out the random thoughts assaulting his brain, Fuji slowly turned around hoping beyond all hope that it was not one of his would-be stalkers. Relief spread through his body like poison in a blood stream before the panic set in. Yes, it wasn't one of… _them_, but out of all of the people it could have been why couldn't it have been someone else?

Fuji stared up at the face of the person smirking down at him, stricken. Niou Masaharu. The number one troublemaker of Rikkai. Fuji looked around in vain for an escape, but seeing none, he merely lay there staring at Niou as he stared at him. Even worse, Yagyuu was not there. Now cursing all the gods that he knew of in succession and even going so far as to damn the devil himself to the depths of Hell, Fuji continued to stare up at the man seated before him with his mask still in place.

After what seemed like forever, the mask started to shift toward borderline creepy and Niou suppressed a gulp that he was sure Fuji would have noticed had he not. Frankly speaking, Fuji had always freaked Niou out to _that_ point. The Oh My God Yagyuu Help Me Point™. Hardly anyone had ever gotten him to this point and Niou held a strong distrust of anyone who managed to. Several tense minutes passed before Niou shrugged and flopped down on the floor next to Fuji, effectively disguising his uneasiness.

Now that Fuji was slightly less paranoid about being caught because of some freak run-in with the most troublesome person in the castle, he could relax a little more and behave with some semblance of civility. Still not moving from his position from the floor (the paranoia had only lessened, it would never truly go away; Fuji could cry) he stuck out his hand and watched as one of the other man's eyebrows shot up before he tentatively stretched out his own and they shook.

So that was how Niou came to be under the theater seats with him. They chatted quietly during the times when Fuji was absolutely positive his stalkers were nowhere nearby, but otherwise remained relatively silent. A few shuffles here and a few shuffles there and they were in a very comprising position that was completely unintentional.

And out of all the times that they could have been found, it just had to be that one. Fuji looked up to see that the lights were on and _both _Tezuka and Echizen were staring down at them. Fuji smiled nervously as he pushed Niou off him and tried to stand up. Unsuccessful, he reached back down to pluck the part of his pants that got stuck on a part of the theater seats before managing to stand up. Niou jumped up beside him and then moved away slightly as he saw the glints in the eyes of both the guard and the leader.

Tezuka and Echizen looked at each other, at Niou, and then rested their gazes once more on Fuji. Nervously, Fuji took several steps back and found himself jammed up against the wall. Rock and a hard place indeed! Stupid, _stupid_, _**stupid**_ politics! So Fuji did what any intelligent person would do. He leaped over the seats, as nimble as can be, and made a beeline for the door with his super speed. He didn't even look back to see what had happened to Niou, he was that panicked.

Speeding to his room, he closed and locked the door and then looked around—rather calmly, actually—and found the nearest big piece of furniture, the sofa, and began to barricade the door before he realized that he was just running away. So instead, he moved all the furniture he had dragged to the door back—when had that desk gotten over there?? Did he even have a desk? Squaring his shoulders, Fuji walked calmly into the hall to face his fears (were they even fears? Fuji wondered vaguely).

They were waiting for him. As soon as he took his first step out the door, they had taken one of his hands each and pulled him into the room across the hall muttering something about talking. An argument ensued—not quite an argument as much as it was a talk about their so-called relationship—and Fuji finally figured out what they had talked about at the meeting.

A loud "WHAT?" rang through the castle. Fuji calmed down slightly and the other two thought they were scot-free but they had counted their chickens too soon, for it was followed by another loud exclamation, this one more along the lines of, "What do you mean we're attacking the werewolves at first light tomorrow?!"

* * *

Woohoo! I have finally finished this chapter. It took a while—if I have to take anymore notes I think my brain will explode—because of various obstacles and… stuff, but I finally got a chance to write this. Although I could have done without the distractions.

**artist-girl731**- Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long.

**DemonGirl13**- Thanks! I've been trying really hard lately to balance everything and it looks like its paying off. Does it really take 4 hours to read through? I haven't read my story all the way through yet (I'm reserving that for the very end). I guess I'm going overboard. But going overboard is fun, too.

**MidnightSunrise951**- That's… quite a lot of effort just to get up. For me it only takes one measly alarm that I can't even hear half the time and don't even use the other half. Thanks for that! It's finally fixed—me so happy!—but the CDROM doesn't work now, so I have to get that fixed. Sometimes I wonder at my computers capacity to be stupid… But it's a good computer so I'm not complaining too much. Thanks, the tests weren't that hard, per se, but I was extremely distracted (there was a fish tank…) so I'm surprised I did well at all. Yeah, Fuji doesn't freeze for very long, just a split second, so no one really notices. I'm glad you like how he's portrayed though. I hope others share your point of view. Well, he's not technically alive, but he's relatively young for a vamp so I just wanted to portray him as sort of young and inexperienced. Sorry, I was really rushed with it. It was late and my brain tends to take the easy way out when it's late. Thanks so much! (And wow… this was long)

**thyPOPE**- It's not a big deal, I'm just glad you're reviewing at all. Is that a good speechless or a bad speechless? Media? As in other stories? I'm glad you liked that. I like to add weird twists to my stories (mainly because we have to question everything in my English class and I've been taught how to use rhetorical devices so much so that my brain has been literally filled with them for the last… eh… yeah) and humor isn't my forte but I try. Pointy teeth are awesome. I'll try to get the next one up really soon!

**Sweet Obsidian Rain**- That's a rather specific Hell. Doesn't sound like much of a Hell to me… but whatever floats your boat. Ah, then again… who would want a bad Hell if they could create their own? The dorkiness is purely for amusement purposes only. It took me a while to fit in how to get _to_ the action… Thank you! I'm glad you like it. Of course… if only in the real world what we think is right is right. That'd be the day. Thanks! I'll try to get the next one up soon, too.


	14. Glimpses of the Past

Circular Reality

**Circular Reality**

_Chapter 14_: Glimpses of the Past

Fuji glanced at the men/vampires arrayed behind him in neat 500 by 500 rows (that's like… 250,000 men! Fuji's mind calculated as he willed it to shut up). Taking a deep breath, he looked forward again, into the darkness of the forest in front of him and, with the help of his super vision, the thousands upon thousands of werewolves lurking in the shadows. He glanced back at his men/vampires (_his men/vampires!_ his mind kindly reiterated for him) and then looked nervously backward again. Taking an even deeper breath, he braved a look down. The black and gold armor of his family, as he expected.

Three blinks and a fake nonchalant yawn later and Fuji Syuusuke was on the verge of freaking out, as had been his forte for the last few days. He held it in with a barely suppressed groan and a look up into the sky. With a barely audible, "How did it come to this?" he looked back at his men, unfurled his wings, rallied those gathered behind him with a cry, and flew into the trees, leading the charge.

* * *

And yesterday had been a bad day! Fuji mentally screamed, sarcasm seeping from every single word. This morning, he had woken to a frenzy of movement: the soldiers were on the move, the generals were strategizing, and the humans were preparing to enter the fray. A servant had knocked on his door, polite but rushed, and informed him quite loudly (his ears were _still_ ringing, damn it!) that he was needed in the meeting room. Grumbling about this and that he had gotten up and gotten dressed, only to have another servant knock on his door and hand him specially-made clothing to wear. Taking the clothing, he had to suppress a groan. Go figure it was armor.

So he put the armor on. No sense in wasting _specially-made __**clothing**_, even if it wasn't clothing and it probably wasn't specially-made.

Holding back curses, he walked from one side of the manor to the other, trying to find out exactly _which_ meeting room he was supposed to be in before stumbling across the correct one, now a good hour late. After receiving a patented Atobe glare for his tardiness, he took his seat mumbling about good-for-nothing servants that didn't know what was what. The meeting continued around him. Why had he even bothered to come if he wasn't needed? With a mental sigh—no use showing weakness in front of these guys, they'd probably use it as blackmail—he settled in to wait for anything that needed his input.

Sneaking a glance around the table, he noticed that there were more humans than there had been prior. He recognized the quadrant leaders, giving them a customary nod of recognition before moving on with his appraisal of the gathering. The Rikkai team was there (obviously Niou had gotten away without visible injury), as was the Atobe team and the Rokakuu team. His sister and brother were there too, in their—hey! How come their armor wasn't black and gold? Why wasn't his sister wearing armor? _Unfair_!

Trying to refrain from showing his childish emotions on his sleeve, Fuji faked a cough to regain his bearings (he'd had them before? registered before he could snuff it out). His brother was wearing sleek black and red armor that looked far more comfortable than Fuji's own not-quite-as-sleek armor. His sister wasn't wearing armor at all, probably in another attempt to stay out of the battle. Rolling his eyes, he continued around the table, albeit grumpily. There were Echizen, Tezuka, and another that he didn't know. Glancing at the man—for he _was_ a man—suspiciously, he looked back at Atobe at the head of the table, who was saying something about the battle. _Curse_ his lack of attention.

From what he could glean from the expressions of those around him, whatever Atobe had been talking about wasn't something to laugh about, so he schooled his expression to match the person's next to him—which, out of all of the things it could have been, had to be bemused. So he was stuck wearing a bemused expression until he figured out what everyone had been talking about. Talk about a pickle. Oh what Fuji would have done for a pickle…

Cue missing more of whatever Atobe was saying. _Curse you short attention span_!

Glancing over at the person sitting next to him—he still didn't bother wondering who it was—he noticed that the person had, in fact, changed expressions, so he was obligated (sort of) to do the same. This time it was a frown, so Fuji frowned slightly. Man, emotions could be so overrated. And copying could be so annoying.

With a short, barely audible sigh, Fuji looked back at Atobe. Thankfully, he hadn't said or done anything to attract any attention to himself and hopefully he hadn't been called upon to voice his opinion on anything—if he had, he'd definitely missed it. Atobe wasn't even looking at him, which was a good sign. As a feeling of relief spread through his body, he hastily made to pay attention. Atobe was saying something about the army, so it was probably an important issue.

"…So that's what we'll do," Atobe announced. Then, turning toward Fuji, he inquired, "If it's not too much trouble, of course."

Fuji gulped. He hadn't been paying any attention whatsoever, but he _knew_ that nothing good happened when Atobe had that look on his face, so he just nodded stiffly and put his mask back in place. He'd get it out of someone later. Or maybe he could start paying attention…

Shrugging slightly, Fuji decided he had nothing to lose by listening so he turned his gaze once more toward Atobe, intent on paying attention to the best of his ability. Atobe seemed to be finishing up whatever he had been talking about and Fuji groaned remembering the last time this had happened.

"_What do you _mean_ you weren't paying attention?!"_

"_You don't have to yell, you know? I'm just stating a fact."_

"_I wouldn't have to yell, if you'd actually heard anything from the meeting. It was important, but I guess you don't have to know. You're only the most important part of the plan," Atobe continued sarcastically._

_Chuckling nervously, Fuji refrained from cursing in a most inappropriate manner, instead sticking with a sigh and a succinct, "What do I have to do _this_ time?"_

"_You're going to act as a liaison between the humans and us," Atobe replied airily—almost as if it was a matter of no importance whatsoever._

_Fuji's eyes opened briefly in what could have been a deadly glare, before he snapped them closed in favor of his normal mask. He didn't need more blackmail against him—Oshitari Yuushi had already accomplished digging up a truckload of embarrassing/stupid things that he had done in the past. Everything had progressed quite quickly after that—he had agreed, for no apparent reason and probably as a result of extreme distraction during the meeting, that he would immediately leave to act as the go-between. _Curse_ his short attention span!_

Come to think of it, that wasn't that long ago, Fuji mused. Soon, Fuji remembered where he was and that he probably should have been paying attention and immediately returned his attention to Atobe's droning voice—_ugh_, war talk could certainly be boring. Glancing at the person seated next to him—oh, so it was Yagyuu—he quickly schooled his expression to imitate the other man's in hopes that his spacing out hadn't been too obvious. No one seemed to notice his antics so he took a deep breath and began to listen. Atobe seemed to just be finishing up.

"Now that we all know the plan…" _No, we don't!_ Yet Fuji nodded sagely.

"Are there any questions?" _Yes!_ But he shook his head no.

That was just the kind of person he was. In any case, he'd just get it out of someone after the meeting. Most preferably _not_ Atobe.

Atobe ended the meeting with a flourish and a wave and Fuji found himself surrounded by humans. Echizen was the first to sidle up to him, wearing an expression akin to a smile, and when their eyes met the smaller man laughed and began telling Fuji what had been going on during the meeting.

Fuji was quite speechless. "How…?"

Echizen grinned, still chuckling, "You looked really dazed," he shrugged, "and considering your track record for meetings, I figured you'd need a little filling in."

Fuji was torn between laughing and scowling. Instead he schooled his mask back in place and pulled both Echizen and Tezuka (where had he come from anyway?) with him to his room where they proceeded to enlighten him on the basics of his task.

Almost ten minutes later a loud, "No frickin' _way_!" could be heard reverberating through the halls of the mansion. It even reached the ears of Atobe, who had been seated in his luxuriously-decorated mansion and reading the files and tactical… stuff that he would need to have memorized by the time of the battle. Shrugging it off as a freak occurrence—or perhaps as an everyday occurrence?—he continued on with his reading.

In another location, Fuji was desperately in need of some aspirin—and a nap. But most definitely the aspirin. Both Echizen and Tezuka sat nearby, watching him as he paced back and forth in bouts of anxiety and insecurity. Pace forward: anxiety. Pace backward: insecurity. And so on and so forth.

As Tezuka glanced at Echizen, he could see that the other man was slightly concerned over the fate of the vampire in front of them. Not that he wasn't worried either. Hey, this couldn't exactly be called love, but he wasn't passing it off as just a fling.

Meanwhile, Fuji was having a mental breakdown. When was the last time this had happened? Umm…

"_WHAT?" Fuji noticed that the others had plugged their ears but made no attempt to be any quieter. Instead, he was almost certain that he got louder. And just as they were pulling their fingers out of their ears, it sunk in. "What do you mean we're attacking the werewolves at first light tomorrow?"_

Oh… right. That was yesterday. Glancing outside the window, he noticed the sun hadn't risen yet, and curiosity got the best of him. He stopped in front of the other two and looked them straight in the eye, as if about to ask some extremely serious thing before whimsically enquiring, "What time is it, anyway?" The other two men, had they been any less concerned and/or serious, would seriously have done the whole anime fall, but, as they were extremely concerned and/or serious, they didn't. Instead they fixed him with skeptical looks before answering.

"What do you _mean_ it's two in the morning?" was his, rather expected, retort. Rolling their eyes in succession, both Tezuka and Echizen glanced at each other before grinning mischievously. And when those grins turned toward one Fuji Syuusuke… well the rest, as they say, is history. Nearly one hour and 45 minutes later, they were getting ready once more, this time in the hopes that they'd see a tomorrow. It was time to get ready. It was time to organize the troops. It was time to say goodbye to the beautiful mansion that had been home for however long they'd been there. It was time to pray to god that they would come back alive and kicking. It was time to leave.

And, as he sat his horse accompanied by the two humans who had recently shared his bed, he couldn't help but reminisce. And not about the good times. Nostalgia set in, leeching his good memories away as his bad ones flopped about like fish fresh out of water. One in particular was strangely vivid.

"_This…this can't be true, can it?" Silence was his only answer. "There's no way this is true! I refuse to accept this." Fuji Yuuta was desperate._

_The Fuji siblings were currently gathered around a piece of paper in the very heart of the enemy's lair. How they'd gotten there was a different story altogether and they cared little for the dead bodies strewn around them, two holes strategically punctured in every throat. Their attentions were fixed upon a single line on the sheet of paper. The letter itself was quite normal. What was written on it was a completely different story. For it was a story._

_My dear children, it began. But it ended with forgive me just this once. Somewhere in the middle was written, "We are not your biological parents." Following this were words that read, "Your mother was a human. Your father was a vampire." And strategically placed near these words was, "Since you're reading this, I must already be dead." Cliché as those words were, what followed them was probably even more so. "I'll have died at the hands of a vampire."_

_So the letter went something like this:_

_My dear children,_

_Since you're reading this, I must already be dead. I'll have died at the hands of a vampire. I meant to tell you everything, but I suppose that it's too late now. So here's the truth: Your mother and I… we're not your biological parents. Your mother was a human. Your father was a vampire. I'm sorry for keeping this a secret for so long. I know this may mean nothing to you now, but we really cared for you. They're looking for you, so run fast and run hard. If they find you… fight as if your life depends on it. It will. Your mother and I love you more than we can say. _

_So please, forgive me just this once._

_The content of the letter hit them hard. It wasn't just the idea that their parents—or at least one of them—was a vampire, but the mere concept that their real parents—not their biological ones—knew that they were going to die._

_Fuji Syuusuke swore off crying for the rest of his life. Nothing could be more painful._

As he came back to the present, Fuji could see a hand waving in front of his face. Following the arm to the body of the person it belonged to, he found himself staring into the eyes of one Echizen Ryoma. Who looked entirely too smug for his own good.

"What do you want?" he spat out, incredibly rude but not bothered enough to change his tone. Echizen looked a little taken aback before replying.

"You were spacing again. I thought I'd tell you we'd made it to our destination but since you don't care…" he trailed off before adding, "Just don't bite my head off, ok?"

* * *

And there's chapter 14. Sorry it took _way_ too long to come out. I've been in exam central for a while, studying for AP exams and the like, for the last month or so. Or supposedly I was. I don't like studying too much, in any case. I apologize for the lateness in posting this, but I haven't had that much time. Now I remember why I didn't update last year at this point in time. But here it is. Complete with an elevator and a swimming pool. Just kidding. But it is complete with some (hopefully) complete flashbacks. Hope it's enough.

**MidnightSunrise951**- Yeah, I thought that was a pretty funny twist to the story. I love Fuji Hell but I wasn't able to pull it in with this chapter. It's a pretty wicked (as in COOL) place to be though, I have to assure you. However awesome it would be to find a vamp Fuji, I am highly doubtful it would happen, though I wish you luck. Well... I don't know. I was thinking Gakuto, but he didn't really fit in with the way I wanted to portray the character all that much and the one who did was... well, Niou. Thanks. Uh... acutally, my computer is totally shot again. I'm thinking of getting a laptop or something. Ooooh drama. I like angst better, but drama's all good. Thanks for reviewing!

**DemonGirl13**- Thanks! And thanks for the review!

**2bloodly2love**- I'm sorry for missing it! Gosh, I always write my stories really late into the night and I guess its really getting to me. I'm really really really sorry! Thank you! I'm glad you left a review. I love to hear people's opinions and see if I made some mistake somewhere (like time and... stuff. I'm very bad at matching times together). Thank you very much for reviewing!

**yoshikochan**- Yup, they're together. Completely now. I'd totally draw a smiley face if I could. But it won't let me... I'm happy you found it funny though. I was in a really odd mood when I wrote it so I was wondering if my humor would go to waste--because I'm not that great with humor. Niou's awesome... but I feel really bad for him in the last chapter, though in this chapter he's all good. Yup, but I still haven't really gotten to that part yet. I'm hoping in the next chapter they will. Though I can't say anything about the outcome, I will give you a hint. Some new characters arise and... they're pretty interesting--and well known--too!

**Dark Reborn**- Unexpected things are my forte! Thanks for reviewing!


	15. End of the Road

Circular Reality

**Circular Reality**

_Chapter 15_: End of the Road

With such astounding numbers, Fuji mused, his army should have won. What a foolish notion that turned out to be. Snorting, Fuji looked around at the jail cell he was currently holed up in, wondering how he had managed to get himself kidnapped once again—oh yes, he'd definitely turned into a child again, to be caught so many times! He had to resist the overwhelming urge to continuously smack his head against the wall; he couldn't afford to lose any _more_ brain cells as it was.

* * *

Once inside the forest, Fuji was sure he had gone the direction that he had seen those beasts lurking (there was only one direction after all), but there wasn't a soul to be seen. Stopping his men(/vampires) with a raised hand, he looked about, straining even his superior vision to see where the enemy was. But he came up short. Who knew that his vision would start failing him at the most inopportune moment? _Stupid _politics!

Quashing the oncoming panic attack before it could take the time to manifest itself into a flurry of incredibly dim-witted decisions, Fuji cautiously waved his men forward, moving to take his position as leader of his force. Before he had even managed to take three steps, however, the werewolves were upon them. Where they'd come from was anyone's guess, but they fought like the beasts they were, ripping and clawing and biting at anything that moved. Howls resounded through the night, a representation of the spectacle taking place before Fuji's eyes.

He was surrounded. Not only were his men having a difficult time fighting off the barrage of attacks being thrown their way, but he had been surrounded so thoroughly that he was almost 100 percent sure it had been planned out by a skilled strategist. _Damn_ it, Kirihara, why couldn't you do this well?

As he furiously fought off the formation of werewolves around him, he noticed far too late that they were simply toying with him, waiting until he had used up his energy before attacking. And they were so closely packed around him that he couldn't even spread his wings to fly. Not to mention those lying in wait up in the trees. They'd be upon him like a pack of, well, wolves if he even deigned to spread his wings. So within this two-pronged attack Fuji stood his ground, fighting off his enemies and hoping beyond hope that relief would come. It never occurred to him to call out for help. Not even when he was struck in the back by what he was sure was not a claw or a fang. Furious, he spun around, only to leave his back unguarded once more. The opportunity wasn't wasted. Even as he got a good look at the werewolf that had taken a whack at him with the hilt of a dagger, he was tackled from behind and, energy depleted, tied up with what he was sure were anti-vampire ropes—_again_? Damn it.

And as cliché as it may be… he was sure he saw Echizen desperately cutting through the werewolves to get to him. Before he passed out, that is.

**Or maybe it was all imagination…**

Unconsciousness wasn't a revolutionary concept to Fuji. He hadn't been a vampire in cahoots with some pretty powerful people for nothing. Sometimes he wondered if he'd have been better off as a hermit living in the middle of nowhere—aka some mountains far away. Then he'd take one look around, decide that he couldn't survive out in the wilderness even if he tried (even if his life _depended_ on it, which it undoubtedly would), and sit content with his lifestyle. Until the next time he was put in a possibly deadly situation. And then the cycle would once more continue, self-berating and horrible in its complexity, yet confidence-boosting and wonderful in its simplicity. It was refreshing, in a way.

Since he'd been in the know for so many years, he half expected to know the person that had captured him. Even if it took 30 werewolves and subtle strategies sheltered in pretense… and that was playing _fair_. He was just too undeniably dense to realize it. Yes, the tactics had been simple. Another game of capture the flag. Except it was capture the leader; demoralize the troops.

Of course, running through half a million names takes a while and, while your mind is running on auto pilot—trying hard not to crash to the cold, hard, _so_ _cold_, ground (_why_ is it so cold?)—it's the hardest thing in the world to wonder what you are doing in a world so devoid of meaning that it holds more meaning than any other, while otherwise remaining aware of your surroundings.

So Fuji did not hear the raucous squeaking of the red-from-rust hinges placed rather precariously on the door—or was the door placed rather precariously on them? Nor did Fuji stop to wonder if perhaps he could escape with little effort on his part… for the hinges of the door were (rather precariously) attaching the door to the sturdiness of the stone wall. So throughout all of this, Fuji remained passively seated on the one seat in the room, a stone bench (placed rather precariously in the middle of the room); never once bothering to look up into the gloom that pervaded the single cell he was in, never once noticing the foreign, yet fairly familiar presence in the room. When he finally deigned to look up and into those wonderful, horrible, sharp blue eyes…** _it was too late._**

**It was _always_ too late…** (…it was _never_ too late)

_The day after he was fully turned, Fuji found himself wandering aimlessly in a city too large… yet so very small. Left, right, right, left, up, down, down, up. Around and around he went. Again and again he passed houses, he passed stores, he passed empty roads—empty parodies of busy life. But there was always one place his feet led him to. Taking a deep breath, he entered the place and found himself eye-to-eye, face-to-face with what could have been the only person awake in the entire town._

_The man welcomed him in gladly, for it was a public place and people could come and go as they pleased, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes and, for this, his eyes were closed as he greeted the late visitor. Fuji noticed right away the deception. And in what a place to deceive. A church. And he was a priest._

_Or at least, Fuji thought he was a priest. He had also once thought that an apple was a pear and that had turned out to be a wrong assumption. Yet he was young and the world, vast. Now he was old and the world, small, too_ small.

_And so it began. _

_The man welcomed him in gladly—of course he would, it was a public place—but his smile was guarded, so_ guarded_ yet so trusting. The irony was not lost on one Fuji Syuusuke and neither was it found. It simply existed and he simply looked before he discarded the thought and continued with what he was doing. The priest—_was_ he a priest?—walked toward him, silver, _no_, gold cross dangling from his horrible, _wonderful_ golden chain (with what money would a _priest_ be able to afford a golden cross, Fuji's mind supplied as he willed away all conscious thought) and spoke to him mutedly—don't break the silence his actions screamed, screamed, _screamed_… and the screams were so loud they were deafening in their intensity—asking him this and that as Fuji continued to stare, blankly, unblinkingly, unraveling the lies and building on the truth—unraveling the truth and building on the lies._

_Lies… he was a human. Truth… he was a vampire. Truth… he was a human. Lies… he was a vampire. He wasn't quite sure what was what. He wasn't quite sure what _wasn't_ what. He wasn't quite sure of anything and this confusion gave way to a burning, wonderful, _horrible_ desire to know. The answers. The questions. He wanted to _know_. _

_And so he stared into those horrible, wonderful, glaring blue irises. And the man stared back, eyes glaringly blue, questions unanswered, unheard, lingering in the silence, whisked away by the wind. The carefree, playful wind passing through the open door, buffeting all into the house of God. And Fuji took that one last step and his fate was sealed. The man gave him a surprised look, curious at the sudden move but made no attempt to stop him and instead took one step back, increasing the distance between them, smile slipping slowly off his face and eyes turning steely._

_Now successfully one step closer to the antithesis of all he had once known, Fuji managed to shift slightly farther back, still maintaining his gaze on the man before him. Shifting into the darkness that awaited him outside the house of God. Yet the man, now bemused, simply gave him a wonderful, horrible, evil grin and he was left with the distinct impression that perhaps he had chosen correctly. What kind of priest would wear a gold cross, after all?_

_The man remained still, staring after him as he further shuffled backwards, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight directly in front of him—something was wrong. Something wasn't just wrong, something was… really _wrong_. And he was truly unable to pinpoint exactly what it was. Those blue eyes. They'd turned steely. In the house of God. In the _house_ of God, those blue eyes had turned steely. There was some underlying suspicion hidden in his gaze as he stopped his retreat into the darkness that he knew would not overtake him lest he allow it to. What was wrong? He couldn't quite get a grasp on it, like a word on the tip of his tongue, like a paper caught by the wind just out of his reach… he simply could not reach it._

_Then it hit him. His eyes grew wide, mask slipping off, _falling_ off, and he took a stumbled step backwards, falling to the ground. Backing up, he hit the wall of the house behind him and abruptly stood once more, running, running, _running_. He could not say where he was running to, or specifically what he was running from, but the fear within him drove him away from the tension, the pressure in the air promising harm and the sense of impending doom hovering over the city's church._

_The steely eyes watched him leave, once more returning jovial as he finally ran out of sight. Turning around, the man hesitated and then turned toward the door once more, reaching a hand out. The air crackled around the door and he pulled his hand back, now thoroughly burned, with a grimace._

_Meanwhile, nearly half a mile away already, Fuji paused, winded not from the exertion but from the fear churning within his body, whispered lies of a horrible, wonderful truth._

It was _that_ man. Blue eyes gleamed with amusement as he took his golden cross in one hand, fingering it with a loving, hateful (wonderful, horrible) touch—a blessing and a curse, it was worth more than, less than, his own life—and grinned up at him in a manner that bespoke an odd sort of familiarity, one borne of years of acquaintance. Yet Fuji was quite sure that he had met this man only once and it hadn't been that much of a meeting—he had been _confused_ that night, oh so horribly, wonderfully confused. Fuji had a fleeting suspicion that although he had not seen (known) the man, the man had seen (known) him and with a slight shudder—gone completely unnoticed by the other man, who had returned his gaze to his cross—he set his attention upon reality and not long-forgotten memories of those wonderful, horrible nights.

He stared. When…?? And once again, _stupid_ politics. The man looked up at him once more, that horrible, wonderful, evil grin yet again spreading slowly across his face, malicious intent and seething sadism lying dormant within his eyes. Fuji was no longer alone, had not been alone for longer even than this stranger had been in the cell with him. There were eyes and ears everywhere around him. The walls turned into giant smirking faces, laughing at his misfortune; the shadow in the corner turned into a werewolf, lean and gaunt, yet at the same time tall and intimidating. He knew it was his imagination getting the better of him. He knew he should put a stop to his rampant thoughts. He even knew that the man next to the cell door was watching him, bemused. He was aware of all of this but simply could not bring himself to care and continued to stare at the man in front of him, barely able to discern him through the weakening light.

Yes. It was far too late to notice that he had been encircled so efficiently he doubted that he could see the walls around him even if he tried (whatever that would achieve). And in that one moment when he realized what his fate was to be, what was to happen to him, he noticed, quite distinctly, that although he was aware of what was happening, a disturbing calmness settled over him—a protective barrier, a warm blanket. And in that split-second, he could barely discern the figure of the man with the steely blue eyes.

He had blonde hair.

* * *

"What do you _mean_ the werewolves captured him?" Atobe was angry. Oshitari was merely disgruntled. How many times would he have to rescue this vampire who had proven so resilient decades before and who now seemed so completely out of touch with reality?

Echizen Ryoma and Tezuka Kunimitsu sat in the plush chairs directly before Atobe's ornately-carved desk in the command tent, looking the worse for the wear and surprisingly unhappy. They had won the battle. But had the cost really been worth it? They had won the battle. But the casualties were relatively high. They had won the battle. But Fuji Syuusuke was not there to celebrate the victory with them.

"You're starting to sound like Fuji, Atobe," Tezuka interjected dejectedly, for once soft-spoken, voice lacking his usual confidence and severity. Atobe looked at him strangely, almost compassionately before sighing and trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, so that was him..."

Needless to say, it didn't work.

Sighing heavily again, Atobe for once didn't know what to do. He couldn't send his men in, risking their lives for the life of a single vampire—who might or might not be able to escape by himself, but he could not, in good conscious, _not_ send his men in, therefore risking their lives for the life of a single vampire—who might or might not be able to escape by himself.

Dilemma, dilemma.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he remembered a key fact that had spontaneously decided to appear in his head, late as usual. Slamming his hands down on the desk, he suddenly stood (scaring the be-jeezus out of the other occupants of the… tent) and, expression panicked, declared, "We need to rescue him. Now!"

The rest, taken aback by his obvious and slightly scary motivation, paused for a moment before deciding that if _Atobe_ was that panicked, something bad was going to happen. And for once in their comparatively short lives, Echizen Ryoma and Tezuka Kunimitsu felt helpless.

Somewhere nearby a wolf howled. All was still in the tent before they were cluttering their way out through the tent flap, headed for the howl. And just as they thought, it was a werewolf, bearing a letter with a blood red seal on it. Scrawled neatly on the front of the letter were four words:

Atobe Keigo

Tezuka Kunimitsu

The letter started off with a declaration that they had obtained a, rather important, hostage and that he was "being treated just fine, so you needn't worry… too much." It announced a meeting between leaders that would decide the fate of the prisoner. And that was all.

The werewolf who had delivered the letter, meanwhile, was standing there—most likely expecting an answer. A curt nod from Atobe, however, and they were all walking into the tent they had so hastily exited. There he took up his pen and wrote eight simple words:

Seven o'clock at the edge of the forest.

And so the date was set; the winner of the ridiculous war would be decided the next day.

* * *

Well, I certainly would apologize that this is so late, but I've actually been on vacation for a while and when I got there I realized I'd left my flashdrive behind and couldn't update this or anything. So… yeah. School starts soon, so look forward to updates more often (it's a method of procrastination…). Hope you enjoyed.

Oh and I don't know if I portrayed it very well, so if it's confusing I'm sorry, but Fuji in the flashback was completely out of it and confused and didn't know what to think of himself. It was right after he was turned, after all.

**iBloodly-Chan-**Sorry once again. Thank you, but I think it was ironically enough one of my longer ones… haha, I'll try to make them longer. Sorry about the time between updates. Thank you for sticking with the story.

**yoshikochan- **I'm glad Fuji amuses you, that was the intent. In the anime we always see him so… I don't know… Fuji that I just wanted to put him in different situations where he would react so completely different. Thanks for that. My humor sometimes is weird even to me and that one spot was a little iffy for me but I guess I'm not the only who thought it would be funny. Echizen's really sharp, and I figured I'd have him watch Fuji like a hawk lol—and he's surprisingly good at picking up stuff… Thanks for the review (and waiting so long for updates)!

**Dark Reborn-** It's ok, don't worry about it. Haha, actually no. Sometimes I just randomly put in parts of his past to inform the reader (in tiny little tidbits (it gets annoying to write even, let alone read (and I've read my story))) about how Fuji grew up and how he became a vamp and how he lived his life. I figure the past is a pretty important factor in his present personality. So it actually has nothing to do with the werewolves. At all… Thanks for the review!!

**FallenAngel Sayu- **Well here's the next one for your reading pleasure. Hope you enjoyed it. The next one will be out WAY sooner. I'll need to do something in school after all, haha. (It's my senior year, I think I'm allowed to slack a little…) Thanks for the review and for reading all of this (…I know it's long).


	16. Games mind games

**Circular Reality  
**Chapter 16: _Games—mind—games_

Dark—Dank—Rank—Rain—Pain—Gain—Bane—Mane—Sane—

What game was this again?

…_only one letter in the word…_

…**same sound…**

Love—Move—Dove—Cove—Code—Mode—Toad—Road—Read—

Huh?

…_idiot…_

…**same… moron…**

Bred—Bled—Blew—Flew—Flow—Crow—Plow—Grow—Slow —

…_gold…_

…**said…**

Gold said—gold said—gold said—gold said? …said—

_**beep**_

"Done already?"

Gold—Fold—Mold—Told—Hold—Hole—Role—Roll—Doll—

"Not quite, I see."

Said—Maid—Fade—Wade—Raid—Bade—Paid—Laid—Made—

"I'm surprised you're still conscious—after all _that_."

…_grade…_

…**feign…**

Grade—Trade—Braid—Drape—Grape—Gripe—Tripe—Trite—Trait—

"…I see how it is."

Feign—Grain—Crane—Blain—Brain—Train—Plain—Drain—Slain—

"You want to play it that way?"

…_scream…_

…**scream…**

Scream.

Scream.

Scream.

Scream.

A scream. A smirk. Pain. A flash of recognition. Pain. A scream. A slash. Pain. Gone.

--

The man smirked, a magnificent mixture of blood and sweat dripping off of his face, blood soaking into his clothing, blue eyes reflecting crimson and blonde hair staining red. Brushing a hand through his locks, leaving a trail of red—sticky, glorious, copper—his sadistic smirk fell off his face, for once leaving him looking disappointed. Fading quickly, the dejected look was replaced with a maniacal gleam of eyes and a wide-mouthed smile, a cackle and another kick to the still body at his feet. Scoffing, he turned swiftly and left the room, leaving the clean-up to a fearful soldier who was looking at him as though he were insane—well, he was, but that soldier was still getting demoted.

Moving swiftly through the hallways of the large underground base the werewolves had made home, he finally arrived at his room, his feet automatically taking him there without any real conscious thought on his part. In the last half day he had been down this route at least two dozen times, it was natural that he knew the path so well he did not need to introduce thought to his already thought-riddled brain just to reach his destination.

He frowned. Why was it that that vampire, who he had taken to be so strong before, only lasted a few minutes in his company? By all rights, he should have lasted longer. Even the first time they had met, he had seemed stronger than he was now. And that was fresh out of the throngs of pain and bliss that came with the turning and with the new morbid thoughts that could only belong to a newbie vampire. Oh, he had known back then in the church that something important had happened that night, yet as he was trapped—like a _rat_, like a useless, god-forsaken _rat_—in that run-down church, he had not known what that special something was. He had soon found out. The man—the vampire—had come to his church, had actually _gone_ _there _of his free will. A vampire coming to visit a trapped werewolf; the irony was nearly hilarious—or that could have been the insanity speaking.

He still remembered the day—that long ago, far off day—that he had decided that he should trust in the humanity in the vampires. Sneaking through the compound of the werewolves, he had made his way to the silver cage in which the sole vampire the werewolves had been able to capture was being held. He had taken the key (which he had cleverly swiped off of the leader's desk several hours earlier) and glanced at the disconsolate creature that had lain before him, in the middle of the enclosure on the only square that was not metal. It was night, metal was cold—it had prompted his actions, made him feel for that dejected being that lay before him. Looking at the key he realized that, with one action, he could forever ruin his life in the eyes of the werewolves. He did not care. He did not care. He did not care that he would be labeled a traitor and would probably be sentenced to a life in prison. He wanted to feel. He wanted to feel. _He wanted to feel human again._

It had been nearly two centuries since he had been a human. He had missed the feeling terribly.

He opened the cage door. The vampire glanced up and noticed the wide-open door, the expectant look on the face of its liberator.

The werewolf could no longer remember the gender of the vampire, but he did remember its face and that one look it had given him before it charged him. Spiteful, revengeful, wonderfully hateful, the look spoke of the anger, the hatred between the races, the building of the negative energy that would soon produce a war of such great calamity that it would rock the world.

The feeling of another body slamming into his knocked the air out of his lungs and the quick one-two the vampire then gave him—1. To the sternum and 2. To the back of the neck—sent him into the realm of dreams. In the moments of semi-consciousness, he saw its eyes flash golden and then it was gone and he was no longer in the conscious world. When he woke up, he was imprisoned in a church and the hatred he felt for the vampiric race sent shivers even down his own spine.

Snapping back into reality, the werewolf growled in annoyance and made his way into his room, ignoring the other werewolf in front of him. He was in a _bad_ mood. Pausing at the entrance of his bathroom, he growled out an order that sent the other scurrying and then proceeded inside to take a hopefully calming bath.

He was Kevin Smith, commander of the armed werewolf forces (AWF), damn it. He shouldn't have to worry about these things.

--

Twenty minutes later found Kevin once more in front of the door to the vampire's cell. He sighed, frustrated and opened it almost violently, moving into the room casually. The room had been cleaned up remarkably well from the last time he had been in there. He made a mental note not to demote that soldier—otherwise nothing would get done around here. Proceeding into the room, he made his way over to the unconscious body on the floor, scowling. The vampire should have been awake by now.

He smirked. Was what he was doing actually getting to him, to a vampire? That was a good laugh. Hilarious, actually, that a vampire would so easily be affected by simple mental and physical _games_. Pot. Kettle. Black.

Taking a seat in the only semi-comfortable chair in the cold, dank cell, he watched the being before him shift in sleep for a few minutes before deciding that letting his (lack of) action continue was not a good idea—weighing boredom and fascination, boredom won out by spectacular means.

A _wonderful_ idea decided to pop into his head. He followed it. With a kick to the stomach, the vampire was once more awake—albeit half. And so the tor—the fun began once again.

Kevin Smith was no longer bored. He would not be bored for another three hours, in fact. Three hours that would pass with amazing speed. For him, at least.

--

He was running. Running. Running. Running. He was always running. He would stop every now and again to gain his bearings, to look around at the walls surrounding him, and then continue running. Everything was the same. He wasn't accomplishing anything. Yet he ran and ran and ran. The hallway he was in was a straight, narrow one with no distinguishing elements. It was red—no, black—no, purple—no, blue—it was a color. It was always that color. Red—no, black—no, purple—no, blue—no. It was always… _that_ color. It didn't change. His perception of it didn't change. So why did it register as a different color every time he looked at it?

He wasn't accomplishing anything.

Running. Running. Running.

Everything was the same.

Yet he ran and ran and ran.

The walls were closing in around him, making it hard for him to breathe. He blinked and the feeling disappeared. The walls were where they should have been. Another blink and they closed around him once more. Blink. Normal. Blink. Normal. Blink. Normal… Oh.

He wasn't accomplishing anything.

Yet he ran and ran and ran.

A voice cackled from somewhere behind him. "Run, run, run," it urged him as he ran, ran, ran. At once it was beautiful and deadly, hoarse yet rich, rough and smooth. A laugh rang out and no matter how fast he ran, it was always right behind him—gaining even. He stopped, turned ready to face it. No one. One step backwards, two, and there was a wall there. There had been no wall there before. He spun around, there was no wall. One step backwards, two, and there was a wall there. There had been a hallway there before.

He wasn't accomplishing anything.

Yet he ran and ran and ran.

**A crack in your perceptions.** The wall to his left crumbled, making way for another wall—one shade darker… no, the same.

_A crack in your perceptions._ The wall to his right crumbled. Another wall appeared suddenly much, much closer than the first had been. Still that red—no, black—no, purple—no, blue—_that_ color.

Everything was the same.

Yet he ran and ran and ran.

Once again, he paused to take a breath, to look around. He needn't have. The walls were still the same. The voice was still the same. The carpet was still the same. A different shade: blue—no, purple—no, black—no, red—no. _This_ color.

Everything was the same.

Yet he ran and ran and ran.

He remembered thinking vaguely at one point—a novel idea, since his mind had been so muddled previously—that eventually he would run out of place to run in. And he laughed. And he laughed. And he laughed.

He wasn't accomplishing anything.

Yet he laughed and laughed and laughed.

At once, the hallway curved. Not left. Not right. Not up. Not down. But it did curve. Warped almost. Not left, not right, not up, not down—but in all directions all at once. He paused to think about it, his laughter still ringing in the endless, tireless hallway, and glanced at the walls once more (Still that red—no, black—no, purple—no, blue—no. _That_ color) and then again at the ground below him (Still this blue—no, purple—no, black—no, red—no. _This_ color).

Warped almost.

And he laughed and laughed and laughed.

Everything was the same.

Yet he ran and ran and ran.

The hallway ended. A large room faced him, glorious in its height and hideous in its length. The walls were still _that_ color (that red—no, black—no, purple—no, blue—no) and the floor was still _this_ color (this blue—no, purple—no, black—no, red—no). Yet everything was not the same. There was a chair. There was a person. There was… a hallway?

Everything was the same.

Yet everything was not the same.

He laughed and laughed and laughed.

Yet he ran and ran and ran.

The hallway was once more around him, yet the floor was not _this _color. It was _that_ color. The walls were not _that_ color. They were _this_ color. Yet he was no longer standing on the floor, it seemed. So the floor was a wall and once again the walls were _that _color. And the walls were no longer walls, but the floor and ceiling. They were once again _this _color. He sighed, relieved within this familiarity. Yet there had been no ceiling before. Glancing up—the ceiling was _this_ color. Glancing to the side—there was nothing there. Curious, he reached out to the darkness. There was a wall there—and it was _that _color. He glanced up once more. There was no ceiling.

Everything was the same.

Yet everything was not the same.

Still he ran and ran and ran.

--

Back in the world of the insane, the sane, one man laughed.

--

The hallway had evened out, he found himself thinking as he stopped once more. An odd thought, considering it had never been un-evened out. Or had it? He suddenly found it increasingly difficult to remember. The walls were still the same. The floor was still the same. The voice had long since faded. It had only been an echo, anyway. Instead, he found he could hear his laughter from long before much better. It should have died by now, but it didn't. Relief in uniformity.

Everything was the same.

Yet everything was not the same.

Relief in uniformity.

So he ran and ran and ran.

--

Kevin Smith was amused. Nothing more to say, really. He had spent the better part of two hours watching the vampire before him, taking small glances at what was going on within his mind, prodding to heighten the effect, even changing things outright. It never got old. The vampire had continued to do the same as he had before these little changes. It was amusing… yet strangely irritating—but in a good way.

7'oclock was fast approaching—one hour left, his mind supplied—yet he had so been enjoying himself that at times he wished it would never come. He still had an hour, he rationalized. Myriad forms of torture could be performed within that time limit. Oh the fun he would have.

--

Like a fish out of water, he was brought out of the endless hallway that had so enraptured him before—fished out from above as if by some heathen god. Pain was the first thing that hit him. Physical, mental, psychological—he couldn't think of any type of pain that he was missing at the moment.

A laugh ripped through his mind, echoing: "Oh, you will learn." He was confused. He was uncertain. He was… afraid. For some base reason that he couldn't seem to comprehend, fear bubbled up within him, replacing that hallway with ease. He vaguely wondered what had happened to it, but decided he'd go back to look for it later.

That same voice echoed within his mind—a maniacal chuckle that sent shivers down his spine and hit him straight in the gut with those deadly butterflies that he had once had (when was that?) with those spikes that seemed to be careening all around his stomach.

He opened his eyes (had they been closed?) and looked up, only to be blinded by a light so bright he could have sworn it was right in front of his eyes. Squinting, he noticed it was, in fact, right in front of his eyes. He frowned—he missed the hallway already. There had barely been any light there…

He could just make out the figure of a man standing somewhere near him. And suddenly the light was removed and that insane chuckle that he had been hearing within his mind was right out in the open. He saw the figure move towards him and the chuckle came closer. He put one and two together. And got three. He also realized that that man must have been the owner of that voice. The latter was much more helpful than the former.

For a second he almost passed out, yet couldn't quite find the reason for this abrupt threat to his consciousness. He felt it a moment later: the pain. It started with his fingers and spread in an ever-growing spiral. Fingers, knees, toes, everything was encompassed in the flaring pain. He nearly passed out again. A kick to the stomach brought him back.

--

7'oclock had come and two leaders and a guard stood at the appointed meeting place. 7'oclock passed and two leaders and a guard remained at the appointed meeting place. One hour later, a man walked in casually with another slung over his shoulder. He listed his demands, the other man still slumped over his shoulder, and they negotiated for nearly half an hour.

The decision made both parties somewhat satisfied:

Both the vampire and human army and the AWF would pull out, cease all fighting immediately.

Lands to the north would be handed over to the werewolves on the condition that they do not harm any of the residents there and allow them to move if they so wish.

Other lands would be given to the vampires and humans on the same condition.

There would no longer be any hostilities between the races and instead they would hold a conference every year in which new negotiations that would fit the times would be drawn up.

Miscellaneous issues were also decided on the grounds of peace and equality between the races.

The man, now known as Kevin Smith, dropped the hostage onto the ground and swiftly turned around as soon as he had his own copy of the agreement. The lines were still sketchy but they were far more than he had hoped for initially. He heard the cry of outrage ring from behind him. The perfect ending to a perfectly brutal day.

--

Well, I do have reasons for this lateness. Yet, they're really starting to sound like real excuses that are rather reasonable. But I don't like excuses, so I'm not even going to bother. Suffice it to say, senior year is busy. Hope you enjoyed!

**FallenAngel Sayu**- Hi! Thanks for your continuing support! It's nearing the end, unfortunately, but I'm hoping to go back afterwards and edit things that don't seem to my liking. I don't think I'm going to kill anyone off, so you don't need to worry about that. Although Fuji is a little mentally unstable right now… he'll get better by the end.

**iBloodly-Chan**- lol I really don't like OCs so I never put any in my stories when it comes to fanfics. But yes, that is Kevin Smith, as you found out. Nice guess! Sorry about the slowness in updating but hope this confusing fic makes up for it. Thanks for sticking with the story! Nearing the end, it all seems so surreal that I've even written this many chapters let alone stuck to the plot. (There really was no plot, haha). Your reviews are much appreciated!


	17. Again!

Circular Reality

The Final Chapter: Again?!

As Fuji opened his eyes, the first thing that registered in his sluggish mind was the sunlight streaming in through… wherever it was streaming in through. Damn was it blinding. He squinted in vain, trying to see anything around him, but only succeeded in making the dull throbbing in the back of his head worsen to a sharp pain that wound around him several times and settled itself smack dab in the middle of his forehead. He made a noise to express his irritation only for it to come out gurgled and hoarse, as though he hadn't spoken in years. Now thoroughly annoyed, he made a move to run his hand through his hair—yet sadly his appendage didn't budge and remained down near his side, limp and lifeless. Frowning, Fuji once again opened his eyes, but this time waited for them to adjust to the still-too-bright light before looking around. He was in what looked like his room in the Atobe mansion. When he had gotten there was a complete mystery to him. On that note, he couldn't seem to remember the year, what he was doing there, or even his name! For some reason, one phrase stood out in his mind, yet he couldn't remember what it was from or why he would say it—Stupid politics.

Confused, he brushed it off and sat up slowly, finally managing to control his useless limbs. Breathing somewhat heavily, he sat there for a few moments just taking in the room around him. It was empty, as it should have been, but there seemed to be a few recent editions that he didn't remember there being. There was a desk and what seemed to be a bigger closet (walk-in!) and… was the bed bigger? He couldn't tell if it was just his imagination or not, but he was fairly certain there was some importance to these changes. In any case, he swung his legs to the side, held his head to stop the dizziness from overwhelming him and stood somewhat shakily, making his way over to the bathroom. He decided to take a long relaxing bath to calm himself down—he had been rather shaky since his awakening—so he opened the door to the bathroom, gazed around absentmindedly, noted vaguely that something was different, and went to run the water. As soon as it was up to a decent level, he stopped the water and added the cherry blossom scented "bubble bath" formula into the water and undressed, getting into the water and sitting down to revel in the warmth.

At once he was struck by the odd silence that hung around the castle. Wasn't it wartime? It was completely unacceptable for anyone to be sleeping in when there were preparations to be made. Especially under the watch of one Fuji Syuusuke. He shrugged it off and decided that just one day couldn't hurt anything—besides he was far too comfortable to move at the moment. Just another half an hour wouldn't kill anyone. He stretched out and found more pains that he had overlooked and winced at the pains traveling up his back and that one problem spot in his stomach. Glancing down, he realized he was bandaged _everywhere_ and somewhat resembled a mummy and stifled a laugh. If it weren't for the pain, he would say that it was Halloween all over again.

He laughed for real this time. With just a little mindlessness, he had remembered both his name and the relative time period. At least he knew what he was supposed to be doing. Feeling slightly ADD, Fuji looked down again at the sopping wet bandages as they unwound under the water. Perhaps, he should have taken them off beforehand. If he had realized it sooner it would have been an option, but the tardiness of his thought process no longer played a role in the fate of the bandages. He sighed and decided to leave them as they were until he found out just how deep his wounds were, so he slid back in the water until his back was against the wall of the tub (stifling a hiss as the lesions on his back touched cool wall through wet bandages) and relaxed. Letting his mind wander slightly, he went to his so-called "happy place" and rested there for a time.

What seemed like hours, but must have been only minutes later, he heard a strangled-sounding gasp resound through the adjoining room. Curious, he started to push himself out of the tub but did not even manage to make it one quarter of the way up before the door to the bathroom was pushed open and a short young man, probably still in his early twenties, entered the room. His golden eyes flashed over Fuji and he sighed, laughing slightly.

"How do you always manage to make your way into my bathroom? Thank god I actually brought you a change of clothing this time," he said, still chuckling, "or at least a change of bandages."

Fuji was confused. He had never seen this man before in his life, yet he had the gall to speak to him that way? It was unprecedented; he would not stand for it.

"I will have you know that this is my room and you are trespassing. I don't know who you think you are or may be, but I (most likely) outrank you and I demand the respect I deserve," Fuji stated coldly.

The young man stared at him uncomprehendingly. A long moment passed, in which the silence stretched so thin it could be cut with a piece of paper (vaguely, Fuji contained a flinch—paper cuts were annoying and his wounds were acting up again).

Loud laughter broke the silence as the young man across from him broke down into a fit of would-be giggles, "Haha… you would… ha… say something like… hehe… that, wouldn't… ha…. you?" he managed to say breathlessly. Soon enough, his laughter died down and his face turned almost serious, "Fuji, you don't remember…" he hesitated, "me?"

The other man seemed crestfallen when Fuji shook his head in the negative, but he quickly put that aside just as Fuji realized he had no clothing on to cover him. So far the bubbles had been doing a nice job, but he thought a towel would be a better option.

"Will you hand me that towel, please?" He uttered the last word almost as an after-thought, which it may as well have been. The young man glanced over at the towel and then back at Fuji.

"There's a bigger one in the room. I'll go get it for you; hang on a minute." The young man left the room and after a moment Fuji heard shuffling noises. Then the man was back and, true to his word, he carried a big fluffy white towel with him. He set it down near the bathtub and walked out of the room with a slight wave. "I'll wait for you in the room to change your bandages. Take your time."

This stranger was being quite kind to him, Fuji realized, even though he himself had been slightly rude and terse with him. He sighed and, with a great amount of effort and will, pushed himself up from the tub, reaching slowly for the towel. He would have to apologize, he decided. As his hand closed over the towel Fuji overbalanced and only a quick hand to hold the wall saved him from capsizing. Unfortunately that hand was one of the more heavily bandaged parts of his body and the pain that washed through him from the act was enough to make him groan. In a matter of moments, a series of events occurred. He thankfully managed to put the towel around his body, there was a loud scuffling sound from somewhere outside and the man from before ran into the room looking worried and slightly harried.

"Are you alright? You didn't hurt yourself did you?" he said, sounding even more worried than he looked.

Surprised, Fuji just stood there with the towel around his waist and cradling his hand to his chest. The man's eyes went immediately to his hurt appendage and he sighed in relief.

"It was just your hand? Don't worry, we'll get that bandaged up and you'll be able to use it in a matter of days. Come, I will re-wrap your bandages." He gestured to the room and Fuji took an awkwardly slow step outside of the tub (to keep from slipping, he told himself) and then another and finally made his way over to the other man, who was waiting patiently for him at the door. The man led him towards the bed where extra bandages were waiting for them.

As his wounds were being bound, Fuji took the opportunity to take stock of what parts of his body hurt the most. Soon, he realized that the majority of his wounds hurt about the same level—excruciatingly painful—and the only other levels of pain were even more excruciatingly painful and 'oh, my toes don't hurt.' He grimaced: this was not the way he wanted to start the day.

Frowning, he questioned: "What is happening on the war front?"

The other man looked surprised and mumbled something that sounded like "So you remember that but not me?" but just as well could have been "Man, I really want some salami."

He took his time answering. "What do you remember?"

"Are you suggesting I have amnesia?" Fuji retorted coolly.

The other man looked up and his eyes faintly reflected amusement. "Yes, I am."

Fuji almost snorted. "I remember we were just about to make a ceasefire with the humans and I was to be the envoy."

"So you do have amnesia," the other man murmured. "Since then, the ceasefire was completed and you… were captured by the werewolves in a frontal attack and were returned in exchange for an agreement. There is no longer a war."

Shocked, Fuji just sat there staring at his companion. The other continued to wrap his wounds and only realized after a few minutes that silence had taken over. He looked up from his work with a questioning look.

"What is your name?" Fuji asked, staring down into the mesmerizing golden eyes of the man sitting in front of him.

"Echizen Ryoma," answered the man as he blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting that question.

"Echizen Ryoma, huh…?" he looked deep in thought, as though that name should have meant something to him but he couldn't remember what.

"Is there something wrong with my name?" Echizen asked his companion, puzzled.

Instead of answering the question, Fuji swirled the name around his mouth, "That name sounds so familiar… where have I heard it before?"

…_he saw its eyes flash golden and then it was gone…_

_What is your name, little one? _

…_**Echizen Ryoma**__…_

_How old are you, Echizen?_

_My mother taught me not to talk to strangers…_

_Then why did you tell me your name? How old are you, little one?_

_Twenty-two. Your eyes are beautiful—deadly._

_Fitting answer, Echizen. How old are you really?_

…_Three hundred and fifty four._

_**Echizen Ryoma.**_

Fuji shuddered as he had a flashback that was at once his and not. Where it came from he couldn't tell.

"You…" Echizen leaned in closer to hear the other man.

"You are not human," he spoke in wonder. "Part of the human army, but not human. Echizen Ryoma."

Echizen straightened suddenly and his golden eyes flashed a deadly shade before returning to normal. "I don't know what you're talking about, Fuji. I'm just Echizen Ryoma, Tezuka Kunimitsu's personal bodyguard."

"Tezuka… Kunimitsu?" Why did that name sound familiar as well?

"Yes, Tezuka Kunimitsu." Echizen sounded puzzled again.

…_he struck the final blow. His parents'—their parents'—death was avenged…_

_Cough… you are strong, little one. What is your name?_

…_Fuji Syuusuke_

_Fuji? Ahh the revenge must be sweet._

_It is (although for some reason it isn't)_

_I will tell you the name you have wanted all of this time._

_Yes_

_My name is… cough…._

_**Tezuka Kunimitsu**_

"Tezuka Kunimitsu… the man that I killed. The man that killed my parents." Echizen stiffened, "Head of the human army, but not human."

Echizen chuckled awkwardly, "If you killed him how can he possibly be the same person? You must be making a mistake."

"No, he is the same person. He is." His eyes opened, flashing blue quickly before shutting as another flashback hit him.

_Heat flowed through his body as he felt the man above him kiss him wantonly while his hands traveled down his torso heading towards that one spot that he so wanted him to touch. But instead of doing so, the hands nimbly slipped past the obvious protrusion in the other's pants and made their way back up to his chest. Fuji groaned in disappointment. He wanted skin to skin—he wanted the other's shirt and pants off. Now. With a growl that was almost inhuman, he tore at the buttons on the shirt, getting the shirt off in a matter of seconds. The man above him moaned in appreciation as nails sunk into his skin in the process and ground down, eliciting a moan out of the man beneath him._

_Fuji found that something was missing from this arrangement but couldn't recall through the haze of pleasure that he found himself in as the tent in his pants was grabbed almost roughly by a third hand. He looked up as another moan passed through his lips and ground up into the hand. Tezuka Kunimitsu was immediately above him, pinning him to the bed with lust-filled eyes as his hands traveled up and down Fuji's torso, stopping to play with his already perked nipples and grinding down into the willing body below him. At the same time Echizen Ryoma was freeing Fuji's thick erection from the confines of his pants, his mouth dangerously close to it and his eyes staring up at him, challenging him to deny him._

_Fuji groaned in appreciation at the sight and almost bucked into Echizen's mouth as it swallowed the head of his cock. Through all of the pleasure, he could only make pleading, keening noises and he could barely even think. The only thought that managed to pass through his mind was that these two had had a lot of practice. After that, he found himself on cloud nine and could not manage to do anything but act like a wonton whore, moaning and urging on the two above him._

_The mouth on his cock slid up and down, swallowing him whole and the moans in response were loud and pleasure-filled. The heat building up in him was driving him insane and he felt as though he could not hold on any longer._

"_I'm gonna… mmmm," was all he managed to get out before the mouth removed itself from his painfully hard erection and he felt something slide around it. Glancing down, Fuji groaned dejectedly as he noticed it was a cock ring. There was no longer any doubt; they were going to fuck him until he almost passed out from the pleasure. Echizen grinned up at him slyly before removing his shirt and pants and angling himself on top of Fuji. Unsure of what the other was going to do, Fuji found himself distracted once again by the actions of Tezuka as he kissed him passionately and pulled on his nipples, nipping at his neck._

_He moaned and groaned in succession as he felt clamps being put on both of his nipples, but through this slight pain, he felt a wave of pleasure rock his body as his cock was swallowed again. Echizen was riding him. Tezuka moved off of him to give him a clear view of the younger man going down on him. It was erotic, seeing his cock slipping in and out of the willing hole in the man's backside as the younger man's cock bounced up and down and his balls followed. He would have come just from the sight if there were no cock ring holding back his orgasm. The younger man moaned as Fuji thrust up, sliding in harder, faster, and deeper than before and evidently hitting a spot that made him see spots. _

_Seeing Fuji being so cooperative, Tezuka resumed his activities, leaving marks on his neck and returning to his right nipple where he removed the clamp and licked and sucked at the flesh there, eliciting more erotic noises from Fuji's mouth. He replaced the clamp and moved to the left nipple, repeating his actions. Fuji's body was on fire. He couldn't hold it in any longer—he felt as though he would explode at any moment. Just then he found fingers nudging his balls and making their way a little farther back, tracing his hole. Having a finger inside of him felt awkward and slightly uncomfortable, but he was easily distracted back to the man riding him as he bucked up again and again, hitting the sweet spot inside Echizen multiple times. He felt two more fingers intrude inside him and he groaned but continued to thrust up and then back down and into the fingers as he felt them hit something deep inside of him._

_For a second he froze as he saw stars and both Tezuka and Echizen realized, glancing at each other and smirking wryly. Echizen continued—harder, faster, deeper every single time—and Tezuka's fingers inside of him were driving him insane. Tezuka fisted Echizen's cock and pumped hard and in time to the thrusts in the younger man's body. Soon enough, with a loud cry, Echizen came all over his and Fuji's chests and slumped against him, removing the still-hard cock from his tight ass. For a while, he simply lay there before moving over and making room for Tezuka as he took his place between Fuji's legs._

_With a smirk, Echizen enclosed Tezuka's cock in his mouth and took the entire thing in his mouth, slicking it up for its next task. Tezuka moaned in appreciation and, once done preparing the body underneath him, kissed the still Fuji sloppily on the mouth as he waited for Echizen to finish his work. Fuji was getting impatient, but soon enough Echizen removed his mouth and began the process of distracting Fuji once again. It was a fairly easy thing to do. Licking up the semen on Fuji's chest, he made his way up to the neck of the man below him and to his ear where he licked and blew erotically, whispering hot words that made Fuji want to come then and there._

_Meanwhile, Tezuka pushed into the tight heat of Fuji's ass with his own hard cock. Fuji felt the intrusion but was again distracted by the intricacies of Echizen's mouth on his cock, deep-throating him, humming, and sliding up and down. The heat building up in him made him want to cry from just how crazy it was driving him. If he couldn't come soon then he felt he would die._

_Echizen was hard again at the sight of his captain fucking the man he loved into the mattress. Tezuka noticed this as he pounded harder and harder into the willing body below him, feeling no resistance. Propping Fuji up, so he was sitting on the cock inside him, he gestured for Echizen to sit on the other side. Echizen understood immediately and hummed in approval. He sat himself down and, at the correct moment, his cock joined the one already inside Fuji. Having two people fucking him like this was new to Fuji but he enjoyed it thoroughly as he bucked and thrust down into the two hard erections pounding up his ass. Moaning and crying out, he reached out on both sides, bringing the others closer and spreading his legs more to take it deeper, yelling "Harder, faster, oh god please!"_

_Soon, the men on either side were excruciatingly close and with a nod to each other through half-lidded lust-ridden eyes, Echizen's hand moved to remove the cock ring from Fuji, giving it an extra pump on his way out. This was more than enough stimulation for Fuji to come, crying out loudly in relief and pleasure. Still pumping in and out, Tezuka and Echizen followed soon after, claiming their vampire._

Fuji's face reddened dramatically.

"You…" he was speechless. What does one say after remembering such a vivid memory?

Echizen was now thoroughly confused. First Fuji seemed as though he were going to kill both he and Tezuka and then he's blushing like a schoolgirl. He leaned in closer to see if there was something wrong with the other man. Did he have a fever?

As Echizen leaned closer, he became aware of the words that Fuji was muttering over and over under his breath: "you fucked me into the mattress…"

Smirking, Echizen realized what Fuji must have remembered, but instead of trying to calm the other down, he instead leaned down and whispered in the other's ear, "Technically, you were the one fucking us into the mattress but yes, that's about the gist of it."

Fuji was mortified. He had let them do that to him? Sure, he had never felt such pleasure before, but…

Taking a deep breath, he let it all out in one exhale, "Alright. I will not report either of you as being the vampires that I know you to be. Yes, I am letting personal feelings get in the way, but I no longer think it is important or prudent to tell the truth. Doing so would only invite more problems."

Echizen smiled in relief and then smirked. He liked this one. Angling himself up, he planted a full kiss on Fuji's lips, "I hoped you'd say that…"

Tezuka walked in and with one look at Echizen, seemed to understand the situation. It began anew.

Three months later~

The world was probably a happier place, Fuji mused as he took in the scenery around him. He was on his first vacation in, oh, fifty seven years or so. It felt pretty good to simply be sitting there and doing absolutely nothing as he was pampered in the five-star hotel that he was staying at. Sometimes he very much liked the idea of having Atobe as a friend—yes, he could be a pompous, arrogant bastard but when it all came down to it, he had connections. And connections were nice, especially on vacation.

He sighed contentedly as he gazed around once again. In the past few months he had agonized over his decision, wondering if it had really been such a good idea not to say anything to his fellow vampires about… well, his _fellow_ vampires. Eventually he had come to the realization that even if he had said anything, nothing would have changed. The war was over, had been over for three whole months, so who cared whether or not the supposed leader and leader's guard of the human army were actually human? He could just as easily have said that he had turned them. At least then nobody would have complained… too much.

Lately, he had found that he had too little to do and too much time to do it in. Of course, that might have because his fellow _vampires_ had gone off somewhere to do god only knows what for god only knows how much time. Okay, so they had a legitimate reason to go visit their old friends and acquaintances for a little over a month, and yes Fuji was just being grumpy. He guessed he was starting to go soft, actually missing them. So during their one month visit to their old hometown—or wherever it was they went—Fuji had decided to go on vacation, and it was turning out to be such a brilliant idea.

That is, until a messenger ran in looking slightly harried, eyes flying from one side of the room to the other before finally landing on him. Fuji almost couldn't contain his groan of annoyance and exasperation. He'd only been gone for half a week! What more could they want from him?

"Excuse me, sir, but would you happen to be Fuji Syuusuke? They told me that you'd be here, but…" he continued muttering until Fuji broke in with a raised eyebrow and a nod of affirmation.

"Ah yes, my apologies. You have two guests downstairs who have been searching for you. They are causing quite a commotion and have demanded to see you no matter what… Sometimes people just don't understand that they cannot have everything they want all at once. I do wish that…" he continued muttering under his breath, sounding cross and monotone all at once.

Fuji sighed, "Yes, yes. Send them up. You wouldn't have seen them would you? What do they look like?"

The messenger continued muttering until he heard the other man's words, "Ah yes, sir. One is tall and has brown hair and brown eyes, with glasses. Come to think of it he looks familiar. Where have I seen him before? This is quite a predicament…" he continued until he happened to glance up at Fuji's apparent impatience, "Of course, sir. The other is somewhat short and has black hair with golden eyes, I do believe. Such people can be quite the nuisance, I do say. They really need to learn how to behave in public. Making such a scene is completely unforgivable…" And the muttering continued.

"Just… send them up," Fuji stated exasperatedly, annoyed by the other man's constant mumblings.

Of course it was them. It was always going to be the leader of the human army, Tezuka Kunimitsu, and his ever-faithful guard, Echizen Ryoma. Part of the human army, yet not human. Oh the irony. He figured his life would be turned upside down eventually, he just didn't think it would be in this way. Or at least he didn't think it would be because of two other males—vampires, just the same.

As he heard the knock on the door, he sighed and beckoned them in. Not like they actually waited for his permission to enter. Echizen Ryoma entered the room silently, wearing his biggest smirk. Following him was Tezuka Kunimitu, who had on his most mischievous face. Fuji Syuusuke had long ago learned that giving in was the best option. Win-win situation?

* * *

Alright, so I agonized over how to end this for so very long (which is one of the reasons it took me so very, very long to put it up). Hoped the fan service part went over well. Took quite a bit of effort to write it… ok not really, but I still can't believe I wrote it. Ah well. I hope you all liked it and thanks for sticking around to read it. I plan to go back and rewrite several of the chapters, working on grammar and substance most likely, so look forward to it. Ciao~

GreenAppleIce- Yeah, senior year ended nicely though. The last month or so we did absolutely nothing and it was godlike. So happy it's over. I actually felt bad for Fuji too (sad that the author says that), so I tried to make this last one less painful on him but I don't know if I really succeeded . I guess in a way I did? In a way, chapter 16 is my favorite chapter out of all of them, though that's probably because it was the most fun to write… Anyway, thanks for sticking with the story… I realize I'm a slow updater.

iBloodly-Chan- Nice guess! *thumbs up* I didn't want to make it too obvious so I went for subtle, but there really aren't that many people with Kevin's profile so in a way it was kind of less subtle than I wanted it to be haha. Thank you, I try to make them as interesting as I possibly can while fitting them in with the story. Thanks for sticking around and sorry for the long~ wait.


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